


A Hero Lost, A Hero Gained

by Emme2589



Series: A Trio of Heroes [1]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Drama, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Isolation, Multi, No Smut, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Strong Language, Valiant Hero Ending | VH (Henry Stickmin), charles has a bad time, charles lives (kinda), ellie also has a bad time, follows from the vh ending though there are elements from other endings too, henry has a bad time, henry has bad vertigo spells, i am once again apologizing for everything ive ever done, i may have taken this a bit too seriously but all aboard the hyperfixation train, in this version of the universe polyamory is accepted but not common, theres like one f bomb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26531578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emme2589/pseuds/Emme2589
Summary: Charles is a helicopter pilot who loves special missions and has a good eye for plans.Ellie is an escaped convict who busted a major fraud ring and found solace in her survival skills.And Henry finds himself inexplicably drawn to both of them at the same time.
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Ellie Rose, Charles Calvin/Ellie Rose/Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Henry Stickmin/Ellie Rose
Series: A Trio of Heroes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971646
Comments: 42
Kudos: 254





	1. Chapter 1

This is where it started, I think. When the truck capsized and I found myself staring down a massive chasm into the vast Siberian ocean.

"I have to say, Henry, I'm impressed. Really, I am."

The truck teetered on the edge of the cliffside. I tried to scoot back to offset the balance, but the movement only made the rocking worsen. I began to feel nauseous. The world swayed.

"You're ze first person to escape Ze Wall, but zis is ze end for you. You've got two options here, Henry. You stay in there..."

The truck lurched again, and my vertigo worsened. I resisted the urge to vomit.

"...Or you come with us, back to ze complex. What's it going to be, Henry?"

I was panicking. Ideas flitted in front of me, but I didn't know which one to pick. Anything I thought of had clear drawbacks, and I only had three more seconds to figure it out!

"Hm...well, zat's just too bad..."

The truck fell, and in one last desperate attempt to survive, I leapt from the broken window, grabbing hold of the freezing-cold dirt in the cliff. I squeezed my eyes shut. I begged my fingers to hold tight and dug my toes into the hard-packed earth. I shivered uncontrollably, my whole body going stiff and numb as reflex tears pricked in my eyes.

"Alright, everyone back to work! I will not forget about zis!"

I kept holding on, even as the sound of trucks faded into the distance. Once I was assured they were gone, I climbed onto the cliff, hoisting myself up on shaking, paper-thin arms.

 _Whoa._ I shivered as I headed down the path, _That was a close call, but what do I do now?_

***

_"Don't worry! We're almost there!"_

_I listened to Charles as he rambled on about the mission, and his beloved helicopter. He was focused on his task of course, he wouldn't be such a high-ranking government pilot if he wasn't good at his job, but I could tell that he was really enjoying what he did. He had a small smile on his face as he hummed softly to himself. Occasionally, he would get a call on his headset, and he snapped into business as usual until whoever called had hung up._

_"Sooo...Henry Stickmin, right?" Charles shifted into autopilot before turning to look at me from the cockpit._

_I nodded, feeling a little awkward. I shrugged from where I sat, rubbing the bump on my head, "Yeah, uh, why am I here again?"_

_"Oh yeah, sorry about that." Charles popped the collar of his green army jacket, which was covered in badges and pins, from a yellow smiley face and american flag to a rainbow infinity sign and shiny musical note, "We didn't know how to find you, so we tracked the disappearance of the Tunisian Diamond and, uh, kinda sorta knocked you out. Hope that's alright. Heheh."_

_It wasn't alright, but I wasn't about to argue now that I'd been given a chance to earn my freedom._

_"So, Henry." Charles stuck his hand out to me, really reaching since we were kind of far apart, "Charles Calvin. Military Pilot for the US government. It's nice to finally meet you in person."_

_I shook his hand._

_"I was just wondering something..." Charles returned to his seat, "Why would you risk stealing that huge famous diamond if you were already facing charges for attempted robbery and such?"_

_I know, it was a bad idea, but hindsight is 20/20 and I was desperate. I explained as much to Charles, and asked if he'd be willing to do something like that if he had nothing to lose and everything to gain?_

_"Well, when you put it that way, I guess you're right." he went back to steering as a call came over his headset, "What? No, General, I'm here. Uh huh. Yeah, I know." he hung up, "Okay, Henry, we're here."_

_The red airship was bigger than I expected it to be. It was far more massive than Charles' tiny helicopter, with a huge emblem of a top hat on the side that was bigger than a building, with "Toppat" emblazoned in big bold letters You'd think a criminal organization would keep their secrets, but then again, maybe that was part of the trick._

_"Alright, Henry. Here's the deal." Charles handed me a small earpiece with a microphone attached, "You need to get in there and find proof that the Toppats are criminals. Documents or records would work, but also anything that's clearly stolen would work too. I would recommend going for lighter things, though. Can't have you carrying a bunch of stuff that's too heavy."_

_I fitted the earpiece to my ear. Once it was connected, I gave a thumbs up._

_"Okay." Charles hovered closer to the ship, "Where d'you want me to drop you?"_

***

I sneezed as I entered the Russian pub. The blue hoodie I always wore was usually warm enough for me, but the biting cold of the icy tundra seeped all the way into my bones. Luckily, it was much warmer inside. I sat at the bar, staring into my hands as I tried to think about what I should do now.

Petrov wasn't on my trail anymore, but that didn't mean it was safe to go back the way I'd come. I didn't know how to find my way home, and I didn't see a phone or anything that I could use to call Charles. I hoped he was alright. I didn't remember what happened before I was captured and brought to The Wall, but Charles could have easily gotten hurt if there had been a fight.

I heard an explosion from the window, and I rushed outside to investigate.

"Hey! Get back here!"

A group of Toppats vanished in a beam of light, carrying a giant diamond, and a lone figure in familiar red headphones was left behind. He sighed in exasperation, lowering his pistol before holstering it at his hip.

I locked eyes with him.

"Henry?"

It was Charles!

"Henry!" he ran to me, launching himself over and wrapping both arms firmly around me, "I heard you died!"

I hugged him back, hitting him gently on the shoulder to show that his enthusiasm was mutual.

"I was so scared!" he pulled away, "Aw shucks, you're freezing cold! Let's get back inside, c'mon!"

We sat down inside together, once again at the bar. Charles had swapped his usual jacket for a heavy duty coat (also covered in patches) and white combat boots. He passed me a beanie and a pair of gloves, which I graciously accepted.

"Ugh, can you believe these Toppats?" Charles rubbed his hands together, "They've been squeezing me dry with all their raides. I've been trying so hard to arrest them, but they have this, like, satellite space station set up, and anything outside US jurisdiction is out of my hands. Plus, since they're in space, they aren't really in _any_ country's jurisdiction."

I nodded thoughtfully. That could be a problem, alright.

Charles sighed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "Hey, you and I made a pretty good team before, right? I know the Toppats are a sore spot for you after last time, but maybe together we have a chance! It's starting to... _get personal..."_

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew what he meant.

"So whaddya say, Buddy? Wanna help me...take 'em out for good?"

I smiled. Then I gave a thumbs up.

"Awesome!" Charles stood from his seat, "Alright, if we head out now, we can make it back to camp by sundown! US pacific time, obviously. I had to park my helicopter some ways away, so I hope you don't mind the walk."

I didn't, not much, but it would be cold. Charles seemed to understand.

"Hey, you can huddle up next to me. I'm pretty warm, and this jacket is big enough for two people. Is that alright with you?"

I didn't hesitate to run to his side. He unzipped the huge jacket and slid one arm out, and I gladly slid my arm into the sleeve. He then held me in a side-hug as he fiddled with the zipper again, and I held the other side in place for him as he zipped it up. We were so close that our cheeks were pressed up against each other, but it was so warm compared to the blizzard that surrounded us, I didn't care about the minor breach of personal space.

"See? There's plenty of room!"

We started walking, and Charles unconsciously huddled into my side. He didn't have to. Like he'd said, this coat was probably four times too big on him, so keeping to his side would have been relatively easy, but he huddled into me regardless. I was sure he would stop if I asked him to, but somehow, after the chaos of the complex, it was such a relief to be close to someone who didn't want to hurt me.

"So, if you didn't die, then where have you been all this time?"

I told him about Dmitri Petrov, and about the complex.

"The Wall?" Charles frowned as he thought, "Oh, high-security prison in Russia, right? I think I've heard of that place. Why were you there? You're not that high-profile, are you?"

I didn't know. I'd only been in prison once before, and the Tunisian Diamond was back in the museum.

"Oh, you don't think it was that stunt you pulled in the airship, do you? Sorry. I know it was kinda traumatic for you, I'm just tossing ideas around."

It was okay. I was looking forward to serving them a heaping plate of justice, though.

"You can say _that_ again!"

I turned to look at Charles when he chuckled. He caught my eye, breathlessly laughing as his cheeks and nose reddened in the cold. His eyes were a murky hazel, turning green in the middle near his pupil.

His breath smelled like peppermint.

I looked away quickly, suddenly stifled in the coat as blood rushed to my face.

"Oh! We're here!" Charles unzipped the coat, and I was relieved to feel the biting cold again, "One sec."

He slid open the helicopter door, and I quickly scrambled inside. He shut it again as he began to rummage around in the overhead storage for supplies.

He pulled down another coat, also four sizes too big for him, and a thermos, as well as a pair of boots, "How long were you locked up in the complex?"

I accepted the coat from him, explaining that I had only been in holding before getting out.

"Whoa! So you didn't even get a cell?" Charles struggled with the thermos lid, _"Ugh!_ That's so cool!"

I caught the thermos when it fumbled out of his hands, twisting the lid off myself.

"Heh! Thanks!" he pushed it away when I tried to hand it back, "Oh no, keep it! It's for you!"

"It's for me?" I peered inside, seeing a swirling brown liquid. It smelled like chocolate.

"Do you like your cocoa with marshmallows?" Charles held up a bag of mini marshmallows for me to see, "I always carry stuff like this in the helicopter, just in case it takes awhile for a rescue team to find me!"

He smiled warmly, and I took the bag, which I discovered was partly empty, torn open at the corner, "Thank you."

"No problem, Buddy!" Charles saluted at me before heading towards the cockpit, "Alright, it'll be a few hours, so sit tight, and lemme know if you need anything!"

The helicopter rumbled to life, and I sat back in my seat with my warm drink and huge coat. I was bigger than Charles, but not by much. We still stood eye-to-eye when we faced each other, so the coat on me was only three sizes too big instead of four. Not that it mattered much, it was just what I noticed as we got into the air.

I sipped on the cocoa in the thermos as we lifted off, thinking about snow and coats and hot drinks and Charles...and his smile.

***


	2. Chapter 2

_I landed on top of the airship, fiddling with the earpiece as it crackled to life,_ "Check check, this is Charles. Just wanted to let you know, there's a...guy, in there? A bad guy? So uh, yeah. Good luck." __

_Thanks. I pressed my ear to it to listen for anything, and sure enough, I heard rhythmic footsteps from below. After thinking it over, I decided a massive vacuum would be perfect. I didn't know how Charles had access to the cargo bay, but I didn't question it as he passed the vacuum to me from the window of his helicopter._

_"I know it's a bad idea, but it'll hold all of our stuff until we can get to the rocket. It isn't bound to launch until next week anyway."_

_"But still, Reginald! A train!? Really!?"_

_A plan was already forming in my head as I adjusted my earpiece's volume, the higher ups in the Toppat clan were in the middle of a meeting in the other room. I peeked inside, Charles' voice in my ear._

_"Huh?" I fiddled with the earpiece some more, "Sorry, can you repeat that?"_

__"I was just congratulating you on your victory!" _Charles replied,_ "Why, is something wrong?" __

_I told him to hold on as I listened to Reginald Copperbottom and Right Hand Man bicker back and forth._

_"Do you have a better idea!? There's a government helicopter right outside our front door! If we don't act fast, they'll take us down and return everything we've stolen! And worse! We'll all be arrested!"_

_"Yes, but Reginald, the vault in the airship is extremely secure! If we remove it, there's no telling what'll 'appen to it!"_

_"I am well aware of the risks, Right Hand Man! But if the treasure stays in the vault, then the government will get it for sure!"_

_So they had seen Charles' helicopter outside. No other units had been dispatched since I was going in alone, but the Toppats did know that someone from the government was on their trail. Maybe I could use this to my advantage._

_That's when I got a crazy idea. I headed back inside, speaking through the earpiece in a low voice._

__"Money laundering?" _I heard button presses in the background as Charles hummed to himself,_ "Oh, it's pretty bad. Even when we arrest them now, there will be funds that we will never be able to return." __

_"How much, Charles?"_

__"Huh? Oh! Uhh..." _Charles' mic cut out before he came back to answer,_ "Somewhere in the millions, I think, but it's hard to estimate when all of that money is back in the system." __

_It was decided, then. If I arrested them now, that money would be lost forever. There must be something I could do, even if it meant delaying the arrest._

_And hey, they were stolen goods anyway, right? There was no rule against keeping some for myself!_

_I looked around to make sure I was still alone, "Okay, Charles. I have a plan, but you need to trust me."_

__"Huh? Trust you?" _Charles fidgeted with something, probably his jacket judging from the sounds I heard,_ "Why? What are you gonna do?" __

_"I'll explain everything later, but I think I can get those funds back within a week, maybe even a day if I'm lucky."_

_He was silent at first. I know we had only just met, and I was asking a lot of him, but after being so graciously gifted my freedom for an operation like this, I wanted to make sure the victims of this clan would be compensated._

_Don't ask me why. I'm not usually the selfless type, but I figured if I could do it, why not try?_

_Finally, Charles sighed,_ "Alright. I trust you. Just don't get yourself into too much trouble." __

_So, I headed towards the vault, using the writing on the walls to guide me. In classic Stickmin fashion, I made it in record time. I was brainstorming what I could steal that would accomplish what I wanted to do, but once I actually got there, I realized that the solution was obvious. The Romanian Ruby, on full display in the middle of the room._

_Using a patented Shrink n' Grow, I shrunk the ruby so it would fit neatly in my pant's pocket, then I hurried from the vault to the cockpit of the airship, stashing Charles' earpiece in my hoodie._

_An alarm blared as soon as I'd left the room, so I knew I had to be fast. Hurrying from the catwalk to the long hallway, I burst into the cockpit and dove for the gentleman wearing two top hats. He had just run in from the board room, and he only barely saw me by the time I grasped his golden necklace and dragged him to the elevator._

_Oh wait. It wasn't an elevator, was it?_

_Reginald began to panic. Just as I was about to hit the escape pod button, he suddenly blurted,_ "Fine! You win!" __

_I paused, loosening my grip on his chain._

_"You win." he sighed, defeated, "You outsmarted my crew and stole our ruby. And you've defeated me. I surrender the airship to you."_

***

"Yeah, General, I got 'im. Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

Charles was running off instructions to the fleet while I lay back in my seat and watched the clouds roll by. I was nodding off as we flew, my eyelids heavy now that I was finally warmed up and relaxed. My muscles ached, though. I threw out my shoulder when the truck capsized on the cliff.

"So, the truck fell off the cliff, but you managed to grab the ledge before you fell?"

"More or less, yeah."

"Cool!" Charles shifted the gear, "Alright, we're here. Let's go!"

We had landed in a camp, with lots of tents and wide-open space filled with soldiers of various different ranks. Charles led me to a relatively empty area, flipping open the tent door to usher me inside.

"Okay, so I know you're exhausted, but I should probably explain to General Galeforce what's going on." Charles steered me to one of the fold-out chairs, "Just sit tight. I'll be right back."

I surveyed the tent while Charles was gone. It was filled with various memorabilia from his various missions, including ones he'd been on with me. Photos were common, but so were old electronics and military gear. Charles also had an extra pair of headphones, which, considering how reckless he could be, it made sense to have a spare.

"Henry!" General Galeforce entered the tent, followed by Charles, "It's good to see you again! Where have you been?"

I wrapped both arms around myself, shrugging indifferently.

"Uh, General, I think he needs a little space."

"Hm? Oh, yes." Galeforce replied, "In any case, I'm glad you're safe. In the morning, you and Charlie will be heading up to the Toppat space station to take it down. For now though, you should get some rest. Are you hungry?"

I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of food, so I shook my head.

"Very well. Let me know if you change your mind."

Once Galeforce had left, Charles sat cross-legged on his sleeping bag, tearing open a package of saltine crackers, "Man. I'm glad you're okay, Henry. When I heard that you were dead, I didn't know what to think. I was...sad, you know?"

I nodded. I did know.

"Sorry. I dunno why I'm so glum right now." Charles laughed, smiling wide, "I just...I'm glad to see you. I missed you a lot."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "I missed you too."

"Hey, so...uh..." Charles leaned back on the side of a nearby cot, "We actually planned on taking out that Toppat base before it launched, but we, uhh, failed."

They failed? How did that happen? I asked him about it, climbing down from my chair to sit beside him.

"Well, the thing is, the plan was working at first, but...well, you know the moustache guy? Er...Right Hand Man?"

I nodded.

"Well..." Charles huffed, both in annoyance and in disappointment, "He has cybernetic enhancements now. We weren't prepared for it, so we were forced to fall back."

"But I got him arrested, didn't I?"

"He escaped." Charles replied, "And so did Reginald Copperbottom. They're running a much bigger operation now than they were before, that's for sure. I hope you'll be able to help us out this time around."

Of course, I told Charles that I'd be happy to help.

"Good." he looked at me just a little too long before he stood up, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, you should get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. I'll be right here, so lemme know if you need anything, okay?"

Charles headed out of the tent, striking up a conversation with another soldier as I lay down and stared up at the ceiling.

I was tired, but I felt too wired to sleep. This would be a long night.

***

"Secret government prototype. Whaddya think?" Charles steered the small spaceship through the atmosphere, watching the sky as it went from blue to black.

It certainly was an impressive shuttle. It looked exactly like a UFO, like from those old found footage movies. Looks like it was never aliens after all.

"Okay, if we get too close they're going to attack." Charles slowed our ascent, scoping out the Toppat satellite with a reflectant radar, "How d'you think we should get inside?"

I sat beside Charles in the copilot seat, watching his careful movements as he eased back on the controls of the shuttle. The satellite came into view, and Charles brought us to a steady halt.

"Okay. Put on this space suit and hide in this ball of trash."

I balked at him. Surely he had a better idea than to just send me in alone?

"What?" He handed the space suit over, "It's a good idea, trust me!"

Well, I did trust him, so I donned the suit and passed through the airlock, burrowing into the trash that Charles had gathered up, which was full of old food, plastic, and dirt.

Since I was in the suit though, I didn't mind it much, and soon enough, I had landed on the station.

Charles' voice crackled in my ear, _"See? I_ told _you it was a good idea!"_

I rolled my eyes. He didn't even have the decency to land me near a door.

_"The Toppats have no idea you're there now! I should probably stay back here though, so they don't detect me. Should still be able to help you get inside, though."_

I thought about our conundrum as I held tight to the small window. Peering inside, I could see the energy core of the station, which provided electricity to the whole place. What could I do from here? Even if I got inside, I wouldn't be able to do anything unless I had a way to shut off the power, as if that would even be possible, judging by what I could see.

Just as I was about to ask Charles to bring me back and consider a new plan, he suddenly spoke first, _"You know what? Nah. This calls for some bold action! I'M THE BOLD ACTION MAAAAN!"_

A shadow descended over me, and my eyes widened as I realized what he was doing.

When I came to, a siren was blaring in my ears. I was woozy, but I forced myself to my knees. The space suit had been wrecked, so I tore it off as I looked up. I was on the platform beside the massive core of the space station.

_"WARNING! CRITICAL DAMAGE TO CORE! PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"_

Charles landed beside me, coughing as he sat up, his eyes squinted shut but still bearing a weak smile, "I've always wanted to do that."

I took his hand to help him to his feet, and he coughed a few more times before dusting himself off.

"Anyway, we should probably find a way off this ship before it explodes."

As Charles led the way, I noticed that his headset was completely smashed in, with a bunch of the red paint chipped off. I felt a pang in my chest. Those were his favorite headphones.

"Henry?" Charles followed my gaze to the padded headset over both ears, "Oh, don't worry about it. I can always get a new pair. I have a bunch of spares anyway, so it's fine."

It still made me sad looking at them. They were so characteristic of him that I couldn't imagine him without them. What was this? Why did it feel like my heart was beating too fast?

"Ooh boy." Charles came upon a door that had jammed shut. It was one of those metal garage doors that opened from the bottom up, "It looks like it's stuck, and this is the only way through!"

I crouched down in front of the door, hooking both hands under it to gauge its strength.

"Oh! Good thinking!" Charles grabbed the door too, "Okay, ready? On three! One...two... _three!"_

We yanked the door upwards with all our might, but no matter how hard we pulled on it, it wouldn't budge.

"Ugh!" Charles let go, panting, "It's no use! We need to find another way!"

Charles headed to the door's control panel, but it was offline due to the power cut from his reckless crash. What were we going to do!?

"Wait!" Charles knelt beside the vent just above the floor, "I bet I could get this open! Let's hurry to the other side!"

He pulled out a screwdriver and fitted it into the screws on the vent cover. It took some time to find the right bit, but eventually he got it.

I knelt beside him as he was unscrewing. His brows were furrowed in concentration, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. Those broken headphones were still bothering me. I didn't know why, they just...didn't look right on him.

I found my hand reaching out to touch his cheek, and his concentration broke as he snapped his gaze to me.

"Henry?" he said softly, "You alright?"

I found the words just as I realized why the broken headset bothered me so much, "Are you hurt?"

"Huh?" Charles' expression broke into a smile, "Oh, no, I'm fine. A little banged up after my impromptu landing, but what can I say? I'm just that kinda guy, you know?"

I laughed, my thumb running along his bruised temple, "Yeah. I guess you are."

I was so close to him that our noses were almost touching. Before I could do anything else though, an echoed _Bang!_ reverberated through the walls, like a screech of metal throughout the station.

"Uh oh. We're running out of time." Charles quickly unscrewed the rest of the vent, prying it off and tossing aside before practically diving through it, "Let's go! Hurry!"

I rushed in after him, and before long, we emerged on the other side.

"Oh! Escape pods!" Charles was practically out of breath by the time he stood up, "C'mon! This one's empty!"

We shut ourselves into the escape pod and started up the launch sequence.

"Whew!" Charles sat in the padded seat, and I sat beside him, "Well _that_ was intense! I can't wait to go ho-!"

I gasped when an arm wrapped around me from behind and yanked me out the escape pod. I saw Charles' eyes widen in shock before he dove after me, shoving me back into the pod and forcing the door shut as he fought with the Toppat deviant that had grabbed me.

Charles slammed the clan member into the window, _"Don't worry about me! I'll, uh, find another way!"_

The escape pod launched from the station, and I pressed my hands to the glass, my heart in my throat.

_"NO!!! CHARLES!!!"_

***


	3. Chapter 3

_I set the bag of gold at my feet, panting from the exertion as I wiped the sweat from my brow._

_"Good work, Henry!" Reginald Copperbottom nodded in approval, "Why, with funds like these, we're well on our way to political stardom!"_

__Not quite. _I thought to myself devilishly. I kicked the bag open, and the glittering coins dazzled in the sunlight._

_"Alright! I'll go get the others ready for launch!" Reginald headed back towards the records room, "You just hang tight, Henry. We'll be back shortly."_

_I nodded, waving as he headed off. As soon as he was gone, I made my way to the vast cockpit. It was empty. Perfect._

_I fitted the earpiece to my face, "Come in, Charles."_

__"Ah! Henry!" _Charles sounded relieved and out of breath,_ "I was worried you wouldn't get back to me!" __

_"No, today's the day." I explained my plan, and I could practically hear Charles' grin on the other end, as wide and devilish as my own._

__"Perfect, perfect!" _Charles replied when I was done,_ "Okay, the funds have been secured, and victims are being compensated as we speak! Time to move in for phase two!" __

_I hung up and stashed the earpiece once again. Reinforcements wouldn't arrive for another twenty minutes, but Charles was almost here. I just had to stall for time until I could get back on his helicopter before Reginald figured out what was going on._

_"I got it!" Reginald had returned, "Here it is! The records you requested!"_

_I took the yellow folder from him, frayed at the edges from being handled so often, and peered inside. Dozens and dozens of recorded stolen items, counterfeiting, embezzlement, bribery, and even blackmail on famous government officials were all in here. Every last record of the Toppat's recent illegal activities was in my hands. It was rock-solid proof that the Toppats were a greedy clan of criminals._

_I tried not to look too excited as I skimmed the records, and Reginald shrugged indifferently, "I am unsure as to why you wanted to read these so badly, but here it is. We try to keep a record of everything, just in case, though I can't_ imagine _the trouble we'd be in if the government found out!"_

_Oh yes, Reginald. I can only imagine. I memorized as much as I could before handing it back to him, instructing him to hide it carefully to make sure the government would never find it. I couldn't take the folder back to Charles without rousing too much suspicion. It was bad enough that I had secretly taken everything from the vault and replaced their wealth tenfold with impressive counterfeits, but I could still find solid proof using what I'd just learned as a guide. Hopefully it would be enough to get them all arrested. I knew what they were guilty of, it was just a matter of proving it._

_"Well, Henry, we've almost made it to our destination." Reginald peered out the massive windshield, "Come with me. I have something to show you."_

_More illegal activities? Count me in! I headed over to him, but just as I was about to ask what he was up to, he suddenly swung the huge door open, and I stumbled back from the wind stinging my eyes._

_"Just how long did you think you could do this, Henry?"_

_I blinked at him. What was he talking about?_

_"You see, you've made our collection even more impressive than it used to be. We aren't planning on spending it anytime soon, but just look at how much you have so freely given us!"_

_I felt a chill down my spine. Did he think he was just using me? I mean, I was using him I guess, but he didn't know that!_

_He grabbed my forearm, the fabric of my hoodie bulging between his fingers, and I winced at the force he'd used._

_"You see, Henry..." he grinned, a glimmer in his eye, "Without you, I become the leader of the Toppat Clan again."_

_No, wait!_

_"I just wanted to look you in the eyes as I took it all back..."_

_Help! Can't breathe! Can't-!_

_Reginald yanked my arm behind him so he could get right in my face..._

_"Goodbye..."_

_And then he pushed me._

_He turned, twisting my arm behind my back, and kicked directly into my spine, sending me tumbling off the ship into the biting cold air. My knees hit the banister railing on the way out, and I fell head-first into the sky._

_I smelled salt. Sea water._

_I was going to fall into the ocean!_

_I scrambled for the earpiece, almost dropping it in the process, "Charles Charles I'm falling I need you!"_

__"What!? Slow down, Henry! What's going on!?" __

_"Reginald pushed me! I'm falling, Charles! HELP ME!"_

__"Hey, don't worry! I'm coming! There's a tracker on your earpiece! I'm almost there!" __

_The wind whistled in my ears as the clouds parted and the sound of helicopter blades permeated my senses. The green vehicle came into view, and it turned onto its side as it flew beneath me, the nose tilted down a bit lower than the tail. Charles opened the door, spreading his arms out wide to catch me as it drifted closer and closer, the water rapidly approaching beneath it._

_The helicopter was in freefall._

_I called out to him, "Charles!"_

_"It's okay, Henry! I'm right here!"_

_He had tilted his chair back so far that he was perfectly in line to catch me as I fell directly through the cargo bay into the cockpit. As soon as I was in his arms, he jerked the helicopter back up, which was vertigo-inducing of course, but nowhere near as deadly as if I'd crashed into the ocean head-first._

_He shifted into autopilot, turning on the radio through his headset, "All units move in! We need to perform these arrests right now!"_

__"Roger that!" __

_Once he'd settled the vehicle, he shut the door and shifted me in his arms so he was holding me close, "You okay, Henry? Gah! What am I saying!? Of course you aren't! What happened up there!? Why did Reginald push you!?"_

_I gasped in a breath of air, and static danced in my vision, "I don't know. I..."_

_I tried to explain to him what happened, breathless from my fall. He listened patiently, and considered what I'd told him, until I was too winded to continue._

_"Hey, Henry. You need to breathe." Charles gave my torso a squeeze, "You're okay now, yeah? You're safe. I gotcha."_

_I buried my face in his collar, gripping his jacket in my hands as my eyes screwed shut. I_ did _feel safe. The whole time I was undercover with the Toppats, I had been in a constant state of raised adrenaline. It was exhilarating, and immensely satisfying to take their entire fortune from right under their noses, but I'd also learned to be a light sleeper just in case one of the lower clan members tried to kill me in my sleep._

_I didn't think they actually would unless I was caught, but I guess I was wrong._

_"Charles..." I began, not looking up, "I'm not really scared, I don't think, I'm just shocked. How many other people has he-!?"_

_I sucked in another gasp, and Charles held me tighter, "It's okay, Henry. You can say you were scared. I mean, I was too once you called and told me you needed me."_

_Had I said that? I unconsciously pressed my ear to his chest, and listened to his slow, firm heartbeat. Slow compared to mine anyway. It was still racing, but it was mellowing out as I listened to each beat._

_I realized how tired I was. I realized I didn't even care if I fell asleep right here. I realized that though I'd never cared much for the government, I trusted Charles. Trusted that he wouldn't dream of hurting me even if my guard was down._

_How long had it been since I truly had that peace of mind?_

_I pulled back from Charles, and he looked at me, a sad smile on his face. It wavered just a little bit._

__God, Charles, you don't have to smile for me! __

_That was the last thought I had before I lunged forward, grabbing his jacket collar._

_I pressed our lips together._

_He froze in shock. I don't think he was expecting me to do this, and for a second I considered pulling away and apologizing, but then he relaxed, holding me tighter against himself and tilting his head to better reach me._

_It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to me. I tried to rob that bank and steal that diamond because I needed the money, but I had also enjoyed the thrill of doing something I know I shouldn't be doing. I had never considered that this kind of rush could occur even though I felt totally safe. Even though nothing about this was illegal._

_When I pulled away and opened my eyes, Charles' face was completely red. He gasped for air, taking one hand off me to press against his white undershirt, where his heart was going a mile a minute._

_He locked eyes with me. I considered apologizing again, but before I could, his smile turned genuine. It split the length of his face, and he started to laugh._

_It was like he'd won a battle with himself in his own head. I don't know what I'd done, but he was completely at ease, the tension having melted from his frame and leaving him loose and relaxed._

__"Charlie! Report!" __

_Charles' expression broke as General Galeforce's voice came over his headset, and he cleared his throat awkwardly before turning away and pressing a button on the dashboard, "I've sent in the reinforcements and Henry's with me! He's safe!"_

__"Good work, soldier! Get back to base! Our job isn't done yet!" __

_Charles pushed me into the copilot seat, and I snapped the seatbelt into place as he took the helicopter off idle mode and shifted to manual control, steering back towards the shoreline until the government complex came into view._

_I fiddled with the ties on my hoodie as I gazed out the window, and when I snuck glances at Charles through my peripheral vision, I could see that he was avoiding my gaze too. We seemed to come to a silent agreement that day;_

_We were going to pretend this never happened._

***


	4. Chapter 4

_"H-Henry? Henry, you there?"_

I quickly turned on my earpiece, which had been inside my spacesuit before. Charles' voice sounded so strained, and his breaths were coming in shaky and shallow.

He gave a strangled sigh, _"Man, that roughed me up. Got 'im, though."_

My eyes were glued to the station, which was quickly receding away, "Charles? Hey, you're okay! There's still time!"

_"Heheh. Yeah. There's gotta be another escape pod in here somewhere."_

Charles had broken the Toppat goon's neck in the scuffle. He hadn't meant to kill him, but he knew he'd been out for blood, and he didn't want to risk his own life, or potentially Henry's. After the scuffle, he found a broken escape pod. Not one that would launch, but the door clicked into place just fine, and it had some oxygen reserves. The shield was working, too. Not well, it was only about 60% functional, but Charles thought with a sinking heart that it was all he had. There wasn't enough time to find a better solution.

_"We did it, Henry."_ I heard him stifle a groan, _"We brought 'em down."_

"Charles, don't do this to me!" I hit the window with my forehead, "I'll find a way to come back! I'll-!"

_"No no no! Don't come back!"_ this time, Charles couldn't hold back a cough. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain, _"It's okay! I-I'll find a way out! Just...can I ask you something, Henry?"_

"Anything." I promised.

_"Then tell me...remember the airship mission? Well...why did you kiss me?"_

I flushed red, feeling a rock settle in the pit of my stomach, "Ch-Charles, I thought we agreed not to talk about that!"

_"I know, but I'm curious, and it's not like anyone can hear us anyway."_ more coughing. It lasted longer this time, and when Charles came back, his voice was weaker, _"Please. Just tell me."_

I gasped as the Earth got larger and larger, the station so painfully far away that it was becoming just a speck in the distance, almost going around the curve of the planet and disappearing in its blue sky.

I held back a sob, "Why do you _think_ I kissed you, dumbass!?"

This was it. Charles was going to die. The station had to be mere seconds away from exploding, and he still had no way off-!

Charles laughed blissfully, then he coughed again.

_"We did it, Henry. Pretty good plan."_

He sounded so happy. Had I done that with my roundabout confession?

_"In fact, you_ could _say it was the greatest-!"_

The feed in my earpiece cut off, replaced by static as the station exploded, throwing debris all across the sunset sky.

_"No..."_ I banged on the window, "No! Charles, Charles it _was_ the greatest plan! You did good! _You did so good..."_

I slid to the ground on my knees, numb to the rest of the ride. My throat was sore from screaming. My eyes burned as I failed to blink. If anyone had seen me in this state, they'd probably assume I was dead.

I didn't notice when the escape pod landed on Earth. What I did notice was that the door to the escape pod had opened up, and a familiar figure walked inside.

I blinked, returning from my near comatose state as the soldier knelt beside me, "Hey."

I recognized her voice. I looked up. She had short brown hair, and she wore classic military camouflage with a bulletproof vest and black tactical combat boots. She also spoke with a slight accent, though I couldn't identify what kind.

My voice came out as a croak, _"Who are you?"_

"I'm not surprised you don't remember me. I'm not usually in your division." she pushed a stray hair behind her ear, sticking out her hand towards me to take, "Amelia 'Turtle' Esteban. I'm a demolitions expert for the Special Ops, and a bounty hunter for the US government."

I let her help me to my feet, and I swayed a little as I regained my balance, "Henry Stickmin."

"I know who you are. You're that private investigator, yeah? You took down the Toppat Clan." she seemed to recognize how disoriented I was, as she slung my arm over her shoulders to partially carry me as I stumbled over my feet, "Are you in shock? You look pale."

_We're all pale. We're stick figures._ I would have laughed if my chest would just stop wheezing.

"Don't worry, camp isn't far. The general would like a word with you."

I let her carry me across the desert where I'd landed until she kicked my heel and I was forced to step up into the military helicopter. She set me on the bench as she spoke with the other Special Ops. They were dressed similarly to Amelia, in classic military garb, but one of them wore a thin bandana around his head, while the other wore bright tinted sunglasses. I recognized them, too. John "Frog" Pilkson and Gordon "Eel" Banks.

"Hey, Henry." John spoke in a rasping low voice, "Really kept us waiting, huh?"

I watched the other three before the last few minutes came back to me in a flash, and I asked Amelia how she'd known I was a private investigator.

"It's hard not to know." Amelia explained, a touch of humor in her voice, "Charlie won't stop talking about how great you two are as a team. I can hardly blame him, though. He's got a bit of an excitable streak."

The mention of Charles made a wave of nausea wash over me. It was odd. The numbness was fading, but the ice in my fingertips wasn't. Any feeling I had regained was just pure pain, but there was no grief yet. Just shock.

"You alright there, man?" Gordon said, "You look green!"

"Oh yes, where is Charles anyway?" Amelia asked, "Didn't you two go on this mission together?"

He could have made it out, right? It was at least possible, wasn't it? An explosion seemed so final, so conclusive, and yet I couldn't let go of the stubborn hope that he was still out there somewhere, like I had unwittingly abandoned him.

I switched on my earpiece again, but there was nothing but static.

Amelia seemed to recognize my unease, so she simply pat my back, mumbling, "At ease, comrade." and headed up to the cockpit to tell the pilot to get us back to base.

"Charles?" I said into the mic, "Can you hear me?"

No response. Just more static.

In the blink of an eye, we were back in the camp, surrounded by jungle trees and hot humid air. The helicopter switched off as Amelia helped me down, followed by the other two Ops and the pilot.

I entered General Galeforce's tent, "General, the uh...the Toppat space station has been destroyed..."

He beamed, "Excellent news!"

I squeezed my eyes shut.

His smile fell as he stood from his seat, "What's wrong?"

My eyes were still burning from my infrequent blinking. I fell to my knees just inside the tent. My heart felt like it had been scooped out with a metal spoon, hollow and bleeding. My brother-in-arms. My fellow soldier. My hero. My backup plan. My safety net. My greatest and truest friend, and possibly even my-!

And it was then, in the campsite, with no chance of danger remaining, that I began to cry.

***

I don't know how long I was crying for. At some point, the general had held me close and gotten the story out of me. Charles died in the line of fire, and I failed to save him.

"It's alright." he hit my back sharply, "I've seen this too many times. Let it out, Soldier. You're doing just fine."

I clung to him, crying into his jacket until I had no more tears left to shed. I felt wrung out like a wet towel by the time I was done.

"Henry." Galeforce looked into my eyes, gripping my shoulders in both of his hands. I must have looked like a total mess, "This is common in the military, you know. I often lose soldiers in the line of fire, but it never gets easier. All we can do is press onwards."

I nodded weakly, _"When will it stop hurting so much?"_

"I don't know." Galeforce squeezed my shoulders, "But you're a strong man, Henry. I've seen it myself. You can get through this."

I realized with a start that Galeforce was crying too. He'd been comforting himself as well as me.

"I feel partially responsible, you know?" Galeforce wiped his eyes, "Charlie was like a son to me. We will both need time to mourn."

I hugged him again, shaking like a leaf. I was so tired and hungry and sore, I just wanted to sleep for a million years.

More than anything, I would do anything to bring Charles back to me, even at the cost of my own life.

Galeforce held me up as my eyelids grew heavy, "Go get some rest, Henry. You've earned it."

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, and I was right. After barely being able to stomach a single mouthful of tasteless stew, I lay awake staring at the ceiling of the tent for hours. I wasn't sure how long I simply lay there, the silence of the campsite heavy on my heart as I recognized that without Charles, everything was too quiet.

I began to brainstorm. I looked at the time on my cell phone. Three am. I simply couldn't stay any longer. Nothing felt worse than knowing a piece of my very soul was missing, and everything around me was a reminder of what I had lost.

I made up my mind just as the last of the late-night patrol turned in for the night. Being as quiet as I possibly could, I changed out of my hoodie and jeans and into a sturdy army jacket and cargo pants, both in classic military camouflage. I emptied one of Charles' huge backpacks and filled it with food and supplies. Dry food packets, kindling, two pistols, a lighter and matches, three canteens of drinking water, some bar soap, a pocket knife, iodine tablets, and plenty of ammo. Once I was all packed, I hesitated before folding up my blue hoodie and placing it neatly over my smoothed-out sleeping bag. This way, the general would know that I left willingly, and under no duress.

Finally, once I had everything I would need, I shouldered the backpack and slid down the side of the hill into the jungle, careful to cover my tracks as I went.

_I'm sorry, General._ I thought bitterly, _But I'm not one of you._

***


	5. Chapter 5

Charles was floating in an endless void. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, but he was certain that he'd had a very bad dream. He had a sense of weightlessness, drifting through the void like a corpse buried at sea. He was a traveler on the run, though he wasn't sure what from.

Just when he'd thought he'd made it, whether to purgatory or some other type of limbo, he blinked against a harsh hospital light, and half his body tingled with numbness.

He sat bolt-upright, his heart pounding, and someone beside him gasped, "Hey! Easy, easy!"

Charles looked up at her, though his heart didn't calm.

"You were gone for a bit." the person in front of him was a scientist with a thick Russian accent. She had blonde hair tied into a ponytail at the nape of her neck and striking gray eyes, and she wore a white lab coat, blue latex gloves, and black lipstick. She had hospital scrubs underneath her uniform, all in the same sterile white color.

Charles gasped for air, "Who are you?"

The scientist put on a pair of rose-tinted glasses, "My name is Doctor Vinschpinsilstien."

Charles let his mouth hang open for a moment, "Vinsch...pinsil...?"

"Vinsch-pin-sil-stien." she said slower, "I specialize in military-grade augmentations. I was able to bring you back to life, but I was force to replace spine and left arm, as some of damage sustained was beyond repair."

Charles inspected his body, which was naked from the waist up. As she'd said, his entire left arm, back, chest, and part of his neck and right shoulder were now completely made of metal.

Vinschpinsilstien gently touched his shoulder, "You had run in with Toppat Clan, _да?"_ she sneered, "I've encountered _them_ before..."

The Toppat Clan. It sounded so familiar, "Wait, what happened? Where did I come from?"

"I found you in Toppat escape pod, from space station that was recently destroyed. I assume you had something to do with it."

Charles gazed around at the small room, realizing that they were on a boat, and that it was freezing cold. He shivered, pulling the blanket from the bed up around his bare chest.

Vinschpinsilstien eased him onto his back, "What is your name?"

"Uh...Charles..." Charles gingerly touched his forehead with his right hand, "Come to think of it, I don't remember much. I keep seeing myself floating in space...and I see...someone... _Henry...?"_

"Memory loss is common side effect of cybernetic enhancements. You were legally dead for about four minutes after I found you, so much of your brain is trying to catch up and integrate into your new body."

Charles leapt from the bed, running outside to lean on the edge of the banister on the side of the boat. He stumbled into it, pain lurching from his partially-robotic chest.

"Easy, Charles!" Vinschpinsilstien steadied him from behind, "You're still healing. It will take time to get used to."

"N-no, I..." Charles growled low under his breath, both in sadness and in frustration, "I'm forgetting something important! I know I am! There's someone out there! I need to find him!"

"You will, in due time." Vinschpinsilstien's voice softened in understanding, "But you need to give yourself time to heal. I will help any way I can."

Charles stared down into the ocean. He hated the feeling of his flesh being too cold while the robotic parts of him trembled with numbness and restlessness.

"Why are you helping me?" Charles watched her carefully for any signs of deceit, "You don't even know me. For all you know, I'm a member of the clan myself!"

"You are not. If you had been, you would not have come so close to death in a broken escape pod, and you certainly would not have landed so near the Bering Strait." Vinschpinsilstien held Charles up, her touch practiced, gentle but calculated, "You played a role in the demise of their satellite. I would know this even if you hadn't landed so soon after the explosion. I hate the Toppat Clan with every atom in my body, so enemy of theirs is friend of mine."

Charles looked down at her. She was short compared to him, standing at only five feet and six inches, compared to his five foot ten, and yet he felt so vulnerable, as if she were a mad scientist who had played with his organs. His breaths still came harshly, each one feeling heavier than the last. He felt as if he were on borrowed time.

"You are having trouble getting enough oxygen." Vinschpinsilstien gently guided him back into the cabin, "You need rest. Your body is adjusting to changes I made, so you need time."

"But what about Henry?"

She made him lay down before answering, "What about him?"

"Henry...Henry, uh..." Charles lay back on the pillow, digging his palms into his closed eyes, _"I don't remember his last name..."_

"I will look into it if make you feel better." she took her glasses off to rub a smudge out of them with her sleeve, "In any case, you will not feel better until you get rest. Try not to let your thoughts race, as it will eat up vital energy you need to integrate your cybernetics."

Like _that_ was going to happen. He was still feeling his whole body seizing up, his mind stuck on the fuzzy face in his mind and on the name he'd connected to it.

"Please." Vinschpinsilstien ran a hand over his clammy forehead, "I will do research. This boat is my base of operations. If you have more questions, do not hesitate to ask."

Charles closed his eyes, feeling up his body to the horrid bruising along his ribcage. He tried to catch his breath, focusing on the hand on his forehead and the gentle hum of electronics.

Why wouldn't his mind stop racing?

Who was Henry?

***

I finally set up camp near the edge of the jungle, where forest met desert. It would be easier to spot me in the emptiness of the sand and rock, so I went as far as possible before the trees thinned out to make sure I could still hide. I checked my phone, plugged into a solar battery; 6:23 am. Galeforce was no doubt looking for me by now, but I wasn't technically enlisted, and he had other things to worry about, so as long as I stayed under the radar, I should be fine. In theory, at least.

I didn't bother unpacking anything. I was determined not to leave a trail, so I simply stayed put, getting fifteen minute naps over the course of a few hours until the sun set and I headed off once again. In an attempt to cover even more ground and erase my tracks in the process, I hitched a few rides on delivery trucks heading back and forth across the continent until I found a way back to the United States and even more desert. This was when I factory reset my phone and threw it away, in case Galeforce had a way of tracking it. I bought a new phone that only supported calls and kept it off most of the time. I didn't have a destination in mind. Mostly I was just trying to run away from my own grief. I faced something similar after my mom died. Though we hadn't been particularly close, her death still affected me a lot, and I ran away, hitchhiking across the state until I had found peace. Going home afterwards had been much easier.

I was hoping the same would hold true for Charles, even though I was much closer to him than I had been even with my own family. Being in unfamiliar territory would hopefully help me clear my head so I could eventually find a new path in life. Maybe I could even convince Galeforce to give me my private investigator job back, though I doubted he'd so readily forgive me after basically ghosting him.

Finally, I'd been traveling for four days straight, barely even resting to eat or sleep. I was drinking water, but I had consumed almost nothing else, so I was quickly losing weight. I was assured that nobody was following me, so I set up a semi-permanent campsite in the forest, creating a ring of rocks that I filled with dry leaves and sticks before lighting it with the lighter to create a campfire. I poured some of the drinking water into a small pot, setting it among the smouldering wood to boil. While I waited, I took Charles' pocket knife out and picked up one of the dry sticks by my side to strip the bark off. I wasn't good at whittling, but when you've been arrested no less than three times in just a few years, you pick up a few skills along the way.

I gazed in sadness at the handle of the knife a few times, too. Though I was trying to distance myself from Charles' memory to give me a break from the pain, he only really had this knife because it was military-issued. He never used it, even though he usually carried it with him on missions, so I could use it well enough without really thinking about him.

Before the water in the pot was done boiling though, I heard a gunshot, and I threw myself onto the ground, my arms over my neck as I played dead. The shot had come from somewhere deeper in the woods.

_"You idiots! Don't let her get away! Kill her if you have to!"_

I started. I knew that voice. Petrov. What the heck was _he_ doing all the way out here!?

I heard another gunshot, and then a woman's scream.

Was Dmitri after another escaped convict!? Whatever. I had a bone to pick with him, so I resolved to ruin his day, and save a fellow criminal's life it seemed. Win-win, right? I crouched as I got back up onto my feet, heading into the forest where I'd heard the gunshot. It was farther away than I was expecting it to be. That was good, at least. He wouldn't be able to find my campsite unless he really tried.

Looking around the corner of a cliff, I saw a shock of red. A woman in torn camouflage, easily too big on her. Stolen, maybe? She had red hair, cut into a messy bob, and she was limping as she ran, her pant leg soaked with blood.

I quickly thought up a plan before she had a chance to run past my hiding spot. I pulled a wall of vines off the cliffside and made a small alcove underneath it, then I stood by the dirt wall where the woman was about to dart past. I picked up a heavy rock and threw it as hard as I could deeper into the forest just as I wrapped both arms around the injured convict and yanked her under the vines, clamping my hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She trembled, whimpering until I shushed in her ear, holding her close to my body and making as little sound as possible. She seemed to catch on, and we watched a soldier no older than myself run past.

_"I saw her over here, sir!"_

_"Well, what are you waiting for!? Get her before she escapes!"_

We stayed in that alcove for what must have been half an hour, barely daring to breathe in case Petrov came back. When the forest stayed quiet and the sun dipped low enough to cast us in shadow, I finally loosened my grip and sighed in relief.

"Um..." the escaped convict touched her arm where I'd grabbed her, "Thanks..."

It was then we actually got a good look at each other, and I realized with a start that I recognized her.

She was in the holding cell with me at The Wall!

"You're the one who charge-tackled that guard!" she laughed, stumbling when she put too much weight on her injured leg.

I caught her, slinging her arm over my shoulders.

"Ouch. _That's_ gonna leave a mark..." she leaned on me as I led her back out towards my campsite, "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

I gave her a brief overview of my infiltration of the Toppat space station, leaving out details like Charles' death and my subsequent breakdown. She seemed understanding of my vagueness, so she let the subject drop as I carefully guided her up the hill towards camp.

Once she was seated beside the campfire, she deflated, though she was still tensed up like a guitar string, "I'm Ellie, by the way. Ellie Rose."

I shook her hand firmly, "Henry Stickmin."

I rummaged around in my backpack for the first aid kit as she seemed to take pause after hearing my name. Once I had the kit out and open beside her, she snapped her fingers.

"Oh! You're the one who stole the Tunisian Diamond!"

I nodded, reaching out to take her ankle.

"Oh, right." she unlaced the boots that were clearly too big on her, and rolled up her pant leg. Sure enough, there was a fresh gunshot wound in her calf, a few inches below her knee.

Luckily, the bone had stopped the bullet from penetrating all the way through, so I lay on my side to get a better angle as I used a pair of pliers to pull the bullet out, and Ellie flinched as more blood poured from the wound. I soaked a patch of gauze in the antiseptic and pushed it into the wound, wrapping it tightly in a cloth bandage. Once blood stopped soaking into the new layers, I tied off the roll and cut the length to size.

My pot of water had been boiling for a few minutes now, so I used a pair of military gloves to take it off the fire and added one of the powdered food packets to it. I added a little extra water and powder so Ellie could have a portion. I apologized for not having plates or cutlery.

"It's no problem." she gently touched the food mush with one finger, testing its temperature before scooping a dollop onto her finger and licking it clean, "Huh. Not the worst thing I've ever eaten."

We passed the serving spoon back and forth, taking mouthfuls of the mush as we got to talking. Ellie lay on her back, her injured leg elevated as she twirled a lock of her hair in her hand.

"Hey, thanks for the save." her eyelids fluttered, and I realized she must have been running for a long time, "I mean it. I thought I was totally dead."

I told her it was no trouble, then I asked her how long it had been since she'd slept.

"I don't know. A couple days, maybe? You can't afford to sleep when you're on the run."

I knew what that was like. When I was undercover in the airship, I practically slept with one eye open.

"Man. I can't believe you took down the Toppats _twice."_

"Well, why is Petrov after you? What did you do to get arrested?"

Ellie exhaled, long and slow. I handed the spoon back to her, and she took a few tentative bites of the stuff before she answered.

"I'm a snitch, you see." she sat up to face me, "A whistleblower. You know what that is, right?"

I nodded, already knowing where this was going.

"Well..." she placed the spoon back in the pot, "I used to be a field agent for the US federal government. Not to brag or anything, but I busted some major crime organizations back in my day. I didn't do it alone, but still. I gotta say, I almost could have done it without the paycheck. I'm not naturally a violent person, but getting folks their compensation was always worth it."

Ellie's fond smile fell, and her eyes reflected something cold and dark.

"One day though, I uncovered evidence that the chief of my branch was secretly making deals with the underground criminals, getting illegal favors in exchange for pardons. It got so bad that I realized I couldn't trust anyone on my team, as they could be in on it, or worse, they could be unfairly pardoned criminals themselves. I did some sleuthing, and took the evidence I had to the big wigs in the supreme court. The result? Half my division was fired, and the corrupt chief was given a lifetime prison sentence, but I had underestimated just how deep it went. Within hours of the chief's arrest, I was fired and stripped of all my ranks. I suddenly had a huge group of criminals and officials alike that were out for my blood, and I had nothing left to fall back on, so I ran."

"Oh my god." I cringed. Having a whole government agency out for your hide sounded like a dream come true for Petrov.

"Yep. Been on the run ever since." Ellie huffed, "Well, aside from when I was locked up at The Wall. You inspired me, you know. I managed to escape a few days ago. Stolen truck, though I didn't drive off any cliffs."

I gently kicked her foot, and she laughed.

"I guess I was sloppy, though. I can't believe I was caught."

I added more sticks to the fire when it died down.

"So, Henry," Ellie crossed her arms over her chest, "How did you get so far from your team? The Dogobogo jungle is a continent over."

"Well, I'm trying to get my mind off of my..." I lay back against the tree behind me. My...what exactly? "Well, it doesn't matter. He's dead now."

"Oh." she frowned, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't worry about it."

The pot was emptied, and I wiped it down with a rag before putting everything away.

***


	6. Chapter 6

Ellie was up early the next morning. I had only brought one sleeping bag, but before I could apologize again, Ellie had already tied a blanket between two trees and climbed into it like a hammock. She was out like a light. I guess I was honored that she trusted me enough to get some actual sleep.

I yawned as I rummaged around in my pack, "Ellie, if you want, you can borrow some of my extra clothes."

"No, that's okay. I can manage."

"Really, it's no trouble." I pointed out how her jacket only covered one shoulder, "I can tell those aren't yours. It can't be comfortable to wear something made for a giant."

She thought to refuse again, I could tell, but once I thrust the smaller camouflage garb into her hands, she sighed with a smile, shrugging the huge jacket off her shoulders. She was wearing a simple loose tank top underneath. Once she had the new clothes on, she looked much more comfortable. It made me realize just how...small she was. Don't get me wrong, I could tell that she worked out, but she was a few inches shorter than me, and her shoulders were somewhat narrow compared to mine.

She was probably pretty good at stealth, now that I think about it.

"So, where're we headed?"

I explained that I didn't have a plan in mind. I just wanted to escape from my grief.

"So, this guy you lost..." Ellie laced up my boots, which were still a bit big on her, "You were pretty close to him, huh?"

"Yeah. He was amazing." I slid the blade of the pocket knife along the stick I was carving, "He was a helicopter pilot, one they only called in for special missions. We often went on missions together because of this."

"So, you were...?"

"A private investigator." I relit the campfire, huddling close to its warmth in the chill morning air, "I specialize in infiltration and hijacking. Or, at least I _did._ The general might not give me my job back after leaving the way I did."

"Huh. Maybe I could have a word with this general of yours." Ellie yawned into the back of her hand, "Well, I have nowhere to be. You wouldn't mind if I hang with you for the time being?"

I held my fist out to her, and she bumped it with her own.

"Thanks, Henry. You know, I lost all my supplies when Petrov chased after me, but I do have this!"

She slid something hefty out of the inner pocket of the too-big jacket; A hatchet.

"You'd be surprised what you can pull off with this bad boy. Come on, I'll show you!"

***

Charles was astounded at his rate of healing. It must have something to do with the cybernetics, because by day four, all the bruising was gone and he could feel through the enhancements as if they were as natural as his normal limbs. He felt all except pain through them, and even his organic senses were enhanced through the upgrades.

"Very good." Vinschpinsilstien held Charles' robotic arm up as he tested the joints, "You are learning so quickly. I will allow you to leave if you feel better."

Charles was remembering a lot more now. He remembered not only Henry's full name, but also his face, his favorite hoodie, his _voice..._ he was sure that Henry was important to him. He also remembered the camp, his friends and the general. Some things were still fuzzy, but he knew enough to get around, and he wouldn't wait any longer than he had to.

"You know how to contact me." Vinschpinsilstien watched him expand his metal wings, "Good luck."

He flew into the sky, leaving the Russian waters behind and using his navigation system to head towards camp. He tried to review everything he knew about his life, but it didn't quite click until the army-green tents came into view. He automatically headed towards General Galeforce's tent, but he wasn't there. Strange. Was he off on a mission?

"Charles?"

Charles turned towards the voice. He recognized the man in front of him who gazed at him with wide eyes, both hands over his mouth like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Charles finally connected the face to a name, "Rupert?"

"Charles? Is that really you, mate?" Rupert ran to him, looking him up and down as he held his shoulders, "Henry told us you died!"

"Henry..." Charles' heart soared, "Henry is here!?"

"Charlie!" General Galeforce suddenly appeared, grabbing him in a huge hug, "Boy, it's really you! How did you survive!? Where have you been!?"

Charles' robotic arm shook, and he forced it to stay down at his side, "General. Where's Henry?"

Galeforce gave a shaking sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as he held back tears, "Henry...he left."

"What!?" Charles glanced up at the soldiers that gathered around him, looking at him like they'd seen a ghost, "Where is he!? Where did he go!?"

"I'm afraid we don't know." Galeforce tilted his head towards Charles' old tent, "He disappeared a few days ago, and we haven't seen him since."

"Well, did he like, leave a note or something? How do you know he wasn't kidnapped?"

"Because he left this behind." Galeforce handed the blue hoodie over, "It was folded neatly on top of his sleeping bag. If he had been forcibly removed from camp, there's no way he wouldn't take this with him."

Charles gingerly took the hoodie in his arms, running his thumb along the edge of the hood. This was Henry's prized possession, so the fact that he made the deliberate choice to leave it here in order to send a message made something inside him really hurt.

"My guess is that he couldn't handle the grief." Galeforce continued, "He isn't technically enlisted, so I won't consider him AWOL, but we should move forward without him regardless. He'll return in due time."

"I'll find him."

Galeforce lifted a single gray eyebrow.

"I'll find him!" Charles hugged the hoodie close to his body as he began to pace, "I mean, I'm not dead! He doesn't need to grieve! I'll find him and then things will be okay!"

He could only hope, right?

"Charlie, we have bigger things to worry about." Galeforce explained, "Why, the Toppats are coming back stronger than they've ever been! You'll be an invaluable asset in taking them down!"

"B-but we've needed Henry in the past, right!?" Charles clung so tight to the hoodie that his organic hand was growing numb, _"Please,_ General! I don't even remember what happened! I need to find him! I need to make sure he's okay!"

He wasn't sure what about his plea had swayed the general, but soon enough, his demeanor softened, "Very well. If you feel this is important enough to warrant immediate attention, then you have my blessing."

"Thank you." Charles smiled wide, "I won't let you down, General! I'll have Henry back and those Toppats defeated in no time!"

Charles headed into his tent to prepare, and Galeforce ordered all soldiers back to their stations.

Charles' smile fell once he was alone. Henry had taken more than half of his provisions, but judging by what Vinsch-pencil-stien had said _(Charles was sure he'd never pronounce her name properly),_ he wouldn't need food or water for at least the next week or so. More importantly, if Henry had gone off the grid, then seeing someone approaching from the sky would just drive him into hiding. He wouldn't recognize Charles with the cybernetics. What Henry _would_ recognize is his helicopter. Right? Yes, he was sure.

So, Charles gathered what few supplies he _would_ need, including his spare headset, and moved on autopilot towards the helipad.

He snapped back to reality, freezing halfway up the stairs. How did he know where the helipad was? He didn't have a conscious memory of where he liked to park his helicopter, it was more like he'd taken this exact path so many times, he had it subconsciously memorized. He took another step up, and again, the familiarity was extraordinarily striking.

It was odd, being disconnected like this. He almost feared that even if he found Henry, he wouldn't recognize him for some reason. Shaking his head, he hurried up the remainder of the stairs and entered the helicopter, turning on the lights and placing his hands on the controls.

Wait. He couldn't rely on muscle memory alone to fly a helicopter! His hands hovered over the dash, looking at the millions of buttons that screamed with familiarity, but he couldn't recall any of his flight training, or even times he'd flown the helicopter before.

He'd been running on muscle memory this whole time hoping that it would be enough to get him through his old life, but if he screwed up flying a helicopter, he could easily crash it without meaning to, and then how could he find Henry!?

The thought of never being able to fly this thing again was...

That was when Charles face-planted into the steering wheel and began to cry.

***


	7. Chapter 7

"I bet yours looks like a dead mule."

"I bet _yours_ looks like Petrov's missing tooth."

Me and Ellie were facing away from each other, each of us using a knife to carve a shape out of sturdy blocks of wood. In a few minutes, we would turn around to show off our creations, for better or for worse.

We had also moved camp. We decided to go hiking across the continent to get back to the jungle slowly overtime, which would likely take at least a few months if we didn't hitchhike. As it turned out, Ellie was a valuable survival partner. When we ran out of military food, instead of stealing from a convenience store like I was planning on doing, Ellie taught me how to hunt for small creatures and berries, pointing out which were poisonous or infected with some disease. She became even more helpful once her leg healed, and it was a relief to share the workload.

"I bet yours looks like the truck I crashed."

"I bet _yours_ looks like your face."

"Hey, I'll have you know that this creation is at _least_ as pretty as Petrov's eyebrows."

That got a laugh out of her, "Alright, you win. I'm sure it looks fine."

"We'll see, won't we?" I dug the tip of my knife into the eyes of my wood block, "You almost done?"

"Almost!"

We also played games like this. Who could make the comfiest bed with nothing but leaves? Who was the best at chess? Who could outrun the other in a near-death encounter? Who was better at lying? What's the strongest thing we could each take in a fight? My personal favorite was who could make the other laugh first? We set guidelines of course, like no touching the other person, no using cheap tactics, and sometimes we weren't even allowed to talk. It was good fun, and I even found the weight on my heart easing as we played these games. It made me realize just how lonely I'd been until I met Charles, and how the burden had returned when he was killed.

"Okay, I'm done." Ellie held her creation against her chest as she sheathed her knife, "Ready?"

"Sure am."

"Okay. One...two... _three!"_

We turned to face each other, sitting up on our knees, and I stared at her wood block, a little perplexed as to what I was looking at.

Ellie seemed equally confused as to what I'd made, "Okay, genius. What's that?"

I looked into the face of my creation, wondering how she couldn't see it.

"Look, you can call me an idiot if you want, but I need to know what that's supposed to be."

I rolled my eyes, "Seriously? It's a hawk! See the wings and the curved beak?"

"Oh. That makes more sense." Ellie took my wrist to turn it around, "I thought it was some kind of bat. Or vampire cloak."

"Why the heck would you think that?"

"I don't know! It was just a guess!"

"Okay, miss bootcamp. Tell me what yours is, then."

"You mean you can't tell!?"

I hit my forehead with an open palm.

"It's a sheep! Look at the legs! And the fleece!"

"So it's not a cloud table?"

"Why the heck would you think _'cloud table'_ before _'sheep'!?"_

I stared blankly at her, then I laughed. I honestly truly hadn't thought that through.

"Lemme guess; It made more sense in your head?"

I nodded, still laughing.

Ellie dropped her block, "Well, it's clear we have the carving skills of a fish. More practice?"

"Sure."

We lay beside each other, facing the sky as the sun began to set, and a harsh wind blew across the landscape.

Ellie pulled her jacket tighter around herself, "Henry...I didn't really want to bring this up, but what was Charles like?"

I'd told her his name, but not much else. The point of this whole trip for me was to forget after all, but I hadn't been thinking of him lately, and maybe it was time to revisit some of those painful memories.

"He was the bravest man I knew." I took a deep breath, "When we were up on that Toppat space station, he pushed me into the escape pod when a wayward clan member tried to grab me. He got beat up pretty badly because of it. Even in his final moments, he tried to smile for me. He always made me laugh, and...he..."

Tears fell from my face onto the grassy dirt beneath us.

"He put his helicopter into freefall to catch me when Reginald pushed me off the airship. I remember feeling safe. I still don't know how long it had been since I felt so safe."

"Reginald pushed you?" Ellie rolled onto her side to face me, "You never told me that."

"Really, I should have done something, but..." I hugged myself, "God, I can't describe how much I miss him. I'd do anything to see him again."

Ellie pushed herself up on her elbow to look over me, her hair falling in front of her face. I stared at her. I didn't know what to say.

Her eyes were bright ruby red. They were striking, but they also had some softness to them. They glimmered in the fading sunlight like drops of blood.

"Was he..." she slowly blinked, breaking the light with her eyelashes, "...you know..."

My voice got stuck in my throat, and I felt heat rising to my face. I sucked in a huge breath of air, "I don't know. We didn't really talk about it until seconds before he died."

"Did you want to have him in that way?"

She was really pushing for this answer, huh? Fortunately for me, another gust of wind hit her, throwing her hair over her face and causing her to violently shiver.

"Goddammit!" Ellie sat up, wrapping both arms around herself in an attempt to warm up.

It wasn't too cold to me, but by now it was late October, nearing November, so here in the northern hemisphere, it was in fact getting colder. If only I still had my hoodie. I would have gladly given it to her.

Ellie rubbed her hands together, her teeth chattering loudly, "H-hey, I'm so sorry about this, but can I take the sleeping bag tonight?"

Ah, I understood. I ran hot, so staying warm wasn't usually difficult for me, but it must be the opposite for Ellie. It was odd. She was so hardened from years of being on the run, but I hadn't thought to bring an extra coat or something like Charles always had.

There was one thing I could suggest, though. I unzipped the sleeping bag beside the fire, "Ellie, come here."

She watched me, probably trying to figure out if I had some ulterior motive, but ultimately, she shimmied quickly over to me, lying down beside me as I zipped both of us into the sleeping bag so we were huddled up together inside.

I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back to try and get some warmth into it, "Is this okay?"

Ellie burrowed into me, her head on my chest as she continued to shiver, clinging to me like a lifeline as my body heat was sapped away. The sun set in the distance, bringing the many glittering stars into view, but even though the air around us was freezing cold, we were nice and warm in our little fireside cocoon.

Ellie fell asleep quickly, but my mind was racing too fast to allow me that. I didn't think to bring a coat because I didn't think I'd need one. The sleeping bag was warm enough at night, and the standard military outfit would keep me warm during the day, at least until winter began. Clearly, my head wasn't in the right place when I'd been packing to leave.

I know Ellie was only clinging to me because she was cold, but it reminded me so much of the way Charles would hug me after a particularly painful yet successful mission. I wasn't really a touchy-feely sort of person, so it's not like I hugged just anyone, but what was with me suddenly comparing Ellie to Charles?

Why was it so nice to be held like this?

It was sometime just before dawn when I finally drifted off, and maybe I was crazy, but I swore I could feel my heart stitching itself back together.

***

It should be safe, right?

Charles was almost ready to try starting the flight. Calibrating his radar and telecommunication system, tuning his gyroscope, fitting his radio and syncing his headset to the dash, but something was stopping him. This was all still muscle memory. He could use it to his advantage when he forgot his directions, but flying a helicopter was far more dangerous than that. One split-second miscalculation could get him killed, and yet here he was, stubbornly trying to push past the hazy fog in his memory to get this thing started.

At this point, he should just give up and fly there, right? What was up with him? He was the one who'd insisted on this, so why was he wasting so much time doing nothing!?

Finally, he gave up, leaving the helicopter and making his way back down towards the campsite. General Galeforce had just returned from outside, sitting in one of the tables beneath the concrete structure that held up the helipad. Charles descended the stairs, his eyes still red from crying. He wasn't even sure why he had broken down so suddenly. Maybe it was the pressure building up overtime?

"Charlie?"

Charles stopped on the last step, "Y-yes sir?"

He waved him over, "Come here."

He did, hesitating for a moment before sitting on the bench beside him.

"You haven't left yet, have you?"

"I...General..." Charles' voice was hoarse, but he tried to speak up, "My memories are kind of fuzzy. The doctor said I was legally dead for four minutes after I was found. I'm still getting used to this whole thing, so I don't know if I'll be able to fly my helicopter or not."

The explanation took a lot out of him, and he drooped forward, rubbing his eyes.

Galeforce gave Charles' shoulder a squeeze, "Son, let me tell you something. When you were a new recruit in our airforce, you were confident in your abilities. You were practically a child, enamored with that helicopter and jumping up and down as soon as you were able to get behind its controls. Even before you completed official training, you knew more about the ins and outs of that vehicle than even some of our most experienced pilots, and you could play it like a fiddle. I know for a fact that you can still fly, even with limited memories."

"B-but sir..." Charles swallowed, feeling electricity running up and down his spine, "I don't really remember any of that. I barely remembered my own name on day one."

"Charlie, you entered training when you were eighteen years old. That was six years ago. If you can't fly that helicopter, then my name isn't Hubert Galeforce."

It was a nice sentiment, but it didn't make Charles feel any better. Everything from before he got his cybernetics was a huge blur.

"Here. I just sent everyone else out on a mission to stop a major Toppat raid. If you like, myself and Private Price can accompany you on your search. If you screw up in flying your helicopter, we'll be quick to point it out and correct your mistake."

Charles didn't have many concrete memories from before his near-death, but he did have vague recollections. Thoughts and feelings that he couldn't quite explain. He knew that he could trust Galeforce and Rupert, so after thinking about the general's proposal for a bit, he nodded.

"Alright, soldier. Let's get you sattled up."

So Charles headed up onto the helipad once again, Galeforce and Rupert trailing behind him. Once he was in the pilot's seat he reached the same standstill, but this time, Galeforce interjected before he could lose his nerve.

"What's the first step, soldier?"

"Uhhh..." Charles reached out to take the key in his hand, "The ignition drive...?"

"Demonstrate."

Charles hesitated before twisting the key, and the vehicle roared to life. Its rumbling was familiar. Comforting, even.

"Good, now what's the next step?"

Charles flexed the fingers on his robotic arm before reaching out and tuning the radio, checking the altitude meter, the gas meter, the air pressure meter, the oxygen levels...

"You're doing just fine, Charlie." Galeforce leaned over his chair from behind, "Now what?"

Charles gripped the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip, his foot hovering over the pedals.

"Well? Go on."

Charles took a deep breath and pulled back on the wheel, pushing the pedals to make the blades start spinning.

"That's it. Easy does it."

Charles' robotic arm was obeying his every whim the way his organic arm would. It had fully integrated into his body like it was always meant to be there. If he could trust his arm, then did that mean he could trust his instincts? No part of his brain had been replaced, but it had been damaged. Damaged enough to nearly wipe over a decade's worth of memories.

And yet, he was flying this helicopter into the air, just as he knew he always had.

"Not bad, mate." Rupert slid into the copilot seat, "I knew you could do it."

"Um..." Charles further eased the helicopter up, until it was well above the trees, "G-General, is this how I always do it?"

"Pretty much. I mean, you usually do it much faster, without even looking at the controls, but otherwise it's just like this. I swear, you could fly this thing with your eyes closed."

Charles _had_ easily slid into the familiarity of it. Maybe it was true that once a habit was formed, it was near impossible to break.

"Now, we don't know which direction Henry went in. He covered his tracks, you see, but I do have some idea of where he would want to be right about now."

So Charles flew off, his fellow officers in tow, as he resolved to find Henry, even if he had to be flying all night.

***


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up that morning alone in the sleeping bag. The sun shone down on me, its heat stifling compared to the bitter cold of the previous night. I unzipped the heat-filled prison and sat up, blinking blearily as I gave a wide yawn.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Ellie teased, running her knuckles roughly over my head, "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." I mumbled, "What're you doing?"

"I'm packing." she responded simply, zipping up a backpack I didn't recognize, "We're moving south. I do _not_ wanna be caught up in this side of the country come January. We'll freeze to death that way."

I pointed at the huge backpack, sleepily asking where she'd gotten it.

"I bought it." she stood up, slinging it over her shoulders, "What, you've never heard of exchanging cash for goods and services? Stolen cash, but still. I figured you'd understand, mister Tunisian Diamond."

"Would you _please_ stop bringing up that _stupid_ diamond." I weakly swung at her, but she caught my arm out of the air, "That hulking rock is more trouble than it's worth. Who gave you the authorization to order me around, anyway? You're just a drifter to my camp, and I saved your life! That means I outrank you!"

"It is true that we're in no man's land..." she grinned at me, amused by my sleepiness no doubt, "But remember that I was a field agent for the Federal government in my old life, and you were a private investigator for the military. If we're going by logistics here, I outrank you."

I glared at her. She was right.

"Then it's clear." I pointed at her with the arm she wasn't holding hostage, "Once we make it back to civilization, you outrank me, but until then, we need a compromise."

"Oh? And what did you have in mind, big shot?"

I grinned back at her, "Whoever would hit Petrov harder with a shovel is clearly higher rank."

"You think that wouldn't be me?"

I tugged my arm out of her grip and leapt to my feet, "Oh, you _wish_ it was you. If I was in a prison cell with Petrov and a shovel, and they said _'We'll let you go free if you don't hit Petrov with that shovel',_ I wouldn't even hesitate. I'd hit him so hard, the shovel would break on his face!"

"Wow, dude. That's pretty hardcore."

We glared at each other until our hardened expressions broke and we began to laugh.

"I actually couldn't care less. We can move further south if you want."

"Good." Ellie hit my shoulder, "We leave as soon as you eat. I left some here by the fire for when you woke up."

I watched her head into the forest with her hatchet, and I sat by the blackened logs as my smile slowly began to fall.

My feelings were getting more and more confusing. Last week, if I could choose Charles to be my romantic partner, my answer would be a definitive _"Yes!",_ but now I'm not so sure. Charles was dead, he had been for a long time now, but it still felt like I was betraying him somehow. Why? Did I regret not confessing sooner? Was it just that nice to have Ellie's arms around me all night? Was I moving on too fast?

What if Charles was still alive?

Somehow, that thought alone plunged deep into my core, filling me with relentless elation and bone-shaking dread at the same time. If Charles was dead, then I was betraying his memory, and he was also dead so that sucked, but if Charles was still alive, then I had basically run away with another person and left him in the dust, but I wanted so badly for him to be alive because at least then he'd be alive, right? _Right!?_

"Uh, Henry?"

I looked up at Ellie's concerned face. She had packed the hatchet away, and I had been staring blankly into my ration, making no attempt to eat it or otherwise move at all.

"You okay?"

I looked away, "Uhh...yeah, sorry. Just spaced out I guess."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Well, quit sulking and eat up, then. We've got a long road ahead of us, and we've already lost too much daylight as it is."

She was about to walk away, but before she was out of earshot, I called out, "Let's leave now. I'm not hungry."

"Huh?" Ellie turned back, "But you haven't eaten since yesterday night."

"Yeah, so?"

I expected her to argue further, but instead she snatched the cookware out of my hands, "Well, if you're not gonna eat it, then I will."

"Be my guest."

Once she was finished, we packed up and shouldered our heavy backpacks. I poured sand over our old firepit to ensure it wouldn't reignite, and once that was sorted, we were on our way.

We didn't talk much on the path, in fact Ellie walked ahead of me once we'd hit the side of the road and pointedly avoided eye contact. Was she angry with me? Well, she couldn't be, because when Ellie was angry, she made it known _why,_ but right now, she was simply quiet. Maybe she was lost in her own thoughts, I don't know.

The sound of helicopter blades cut through the quiet forest, and I instinctively looked up, a crushing, fleeting hope in my chest that it was somehow Charles, but it wasn't. The helicopter was gray, and it bore the unmistakable emblem of a certain complex that both Ellie and I had no desire to return to.

As soon as Ellie's eyes landed on it, they filled with cold-blooded fear.

"Hey, come on, let's go." I pulled her into the trees, "There's no way they can see us from here. We can hide. _Ellie."_

She snapped her gaze to me, and with a speed I didn't know she was capable of, she bolted.

"Ellie!" I chased after her, the helicopter drowning out all other sounds. I knew she was fast, but I had never seen anyone run the way she did in my life, "Ellie, wait!"

A soldier jumped out at me, and I quickly dodged his attack. What could I do? I crossed my arms in front of me, boosting my defense just as he jammed the butt of his rifle at me. In a flash, I teleported behind him and kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out.

"HENRY!"

Ellie. I dropped my backpack to run faster.

"HENRY, HELP!"

I made it to a clearing of more soldiers, too many to take out all at once, while the head security officer, Grigori, held Ellie's hands behind her back. She struggled against him of course, but to no avail.

"Well well well...if it isn't Henry Stickmin..."

In the center of the clearing, as menacing as ever, stood the very man I hoped I'd never have to face again.

Dmitri Petrov. Warden of The Wall.

"I should have known you didn't die zat day." Petrov glowered at me, his darkened eyes full of hatred, "Zere had not been a single incident in ze complex in fifty years, and ze _day_ you show up, a riot was incited. You are coming back wiz us, and the two of you will _never_ see ze light of day _again!"_

What could I do? I tried to figure out something, _anything_ I could do, but there were too many guys and too many guns, as Charles would say. God, if only he were here right now, but he wasn't, and I had to do something right now, before it was too late.

"You are ze biggest headache I have ever known, you know. I hope you're ready for a life sentence, because I will _die_ before I let you escape again!"

I looked over Petrov's shoulder at Ellie. Her eyes were still wide with pure fear. I caught Grigori's eye, and he lifted an eyebrow, probably trying to figure out what was going on in my head.

I don't know what made me do it, but I pulled a face at him. The most ridiculous face I could think of. I squeezed one eye shut while the other squinted, and I puffed my cheeks out like a chipmunk. The soldiers all looked at me in surprise, including Grigori, and that was all it took. Ellie twisted her hands out of his grip and kicked him hard between the legs. The soldiers scrambled for their guns, but I darted around Petrov and slid my foot into the ankles of the nearest soldier. The first shot went off, and Ellie bolted for the nearest opening, disappearing into the woods.

"Ellie!" I tried to follow her, but Petrov pounced on me, pinning me down with his legs while his hands tightened around my throat.

"You know what!? Forget it!" his eyes were wild, caught between desperation and pure, blind rage, "Your head will be a trophy! I will make an example of you! I will show _everyone_ what happens when you cross me! _I will destroy anything and everything you've ever loved and make you wish you were never even-!"_

_WHACK!_

Petrov flew off of me, and I gasped for air, rolling onto my side and covering my head with my arms until the rapid footsteps and gunfire ceased.

My heart was pounding in my ears by the time a hand appeared in my peripheral vision. Ellie was holding it out to me, smiling warmly. The soldiers were gone, and Petrov was on the ground beside me. In her other hand, she held a stop sign, and she had hit him so hard that three of his teeth were knocked out.

I glanced from her outstretched hand to her sweet, sincere smile, and I threw myself into her arms, sobbing into her shoulder. She dropped the stop sign, hugging me tight to her body and cradling my head in her hands.

I thought she had left me.

"Henry..." Ellie pulled back to look into my eyes. She was practically lying over me, with me on my back looking up at her while she hovered over me on her arms, "You saved my life. I wouldn't dream of leaving you here to die."

I asked her what the heck she'd even done to break up the fight.

"I pulled a combo. X Y, X X X. Gets 'em every time."

I knew I could probably just push her off me. She wasn't heavy enough to truly pin me down. But somehow, I didn't want to move. I didn't want this to end.

"Ellie..." I said, barely above a whisper, "What if Charles is still alive?"

"Huh?" something flicked across her gaze before it hardened into a glare, "You told me he died in an explosion in outer space!"

"Well, yeah, but I can't help but feel like..."

Like what? What was I trying to say?

Ellie bit her lip, loosening her grip on me, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

I said sure.

"Tell me..." she took my wrists in her hands and pinned them down on either side of my head, "If Charles _was_ still alive...would you want to date him?"

There was something there that I couldn't identify at first. Her glare pierced right through me, like she was seeing into my heart and judging what she'd found. I wracked my brain for what I saw in her eyes that gave me such a vulnerable feeling; A cross-examination of the soul.

Possession.

That was it. I'd seen it before in Reginald when he gazed at all the counterfeit riches I'd aquired for him, and even in Charles when someone took his sodas from his mini fridge without asking. Ellie was possessive of _me._ She _wanted_ me.

She loved me.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I lunged forward and kissed her lips. She practically melted against me, falling on top of me like a ragdoll as she held my face in her hands, tilting her head and returning my kiss like she'd die if she was denied this. It was interesting, in a way. She kissed much more forcefully than Charles, but her lips were also softer, and her hands on me were loose enough that I knew she'd back off at the slightest hint of discomfort from me. Still, her touch was firm, her breaths coming in quick and shallow, and by the time she pulled away, she was gasping for air.

"Whoa..." Ellie huffed out a breathless laugh, "Not bad, comrade. I didn't think you'd actually go for it."

I hugged her close before allowing her to help me to my feet. Our eyes fell on Petrov, still unconscious from his encounter with the sign.

"Well..." I scratched the back of my head, "I guess you outrank me after all."

She elbowed me, "Even in no man's land! We'd better get outta here, though."

I couldn't agree more. We grabbed our backpacks again before hurrying down the road. Hopefully we covered our tracks well enough.

***

We arrived at the Dogobogo jungle in record time. Ellie no longer shivered uncontrollably at night, but she still insisted on sharing the sleeping bag. I didn't think I'd be returning this soon after Charles' death, but I was feeling a lot better about the whole thing, and Ellie was certainly helping me feel better. Plus, the more distance we put between Petrov and ourselves, the better.

"Here we are." I pulled Ellie up onto the cliffside, "That didn't take as long as I expected."

"Henry!"

I turned to the voice, smiling from ear to ear, "General!"

Galeforce gave me a huge hug, squeezing me firmly before letting me go, "It's good to see you again! Who's this?"

Ellie shook his hand, "Ellie Rose, sir."

"Ellie Rose..." Galeforce stroked his beard, "Oh...you're the field agent who got half the Federal law enforcement fired!"

"Hey! It was for good reason, and-!" Ellie inhaled, "Nevermind. I'm just here for Henry. Don't mind me."

"Well, alright." Galeforce shook his head, "In any case, the first thing you should know is that...well...Charles is alive."

I felt a stab through my chest. Of pain or of overwhelming joy, I really couldn't tell.

_"Wh-what...?"_ I coughed and wheezed, "B-b-but that's impossible... _Ch-Charles..."_

"I didn't think it was possible either." Galeforce pulled his hat down over his forehead, "He's lost much of his memory, and he now has cybernetic enhancements that are keeping him alive. Most importantly though, he remembered you, and he's been out looking for you."

"He has!?" I made sure to avoid Ellie's gaze, "Can...can I see him?"

Galeforce shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not. He left to look for you yesterday, and he hasn't returned."

"What!? Why not!?" I could physically feel the grief coming back tenfold, "Sir, if this is a joke, it isn't funny!"

"I'm afraid I'm not known for my sense of humor, Henry." Galeforce chuckled dryly, "Listen, Charlie is not one to simply disappear. He's always been back within hours of departure, but he's been gone for nearly twenty four hours, and I'm starting to get worried, but that's not the worst part."

I massaged my forehead, my vision blurring at the edges. What could possibly be worse than Charles being alive but missing!?

Galeforce waved me over, leading me through the camp and stepping inside his tent. I saw it before he held it up to the light, and I resisted the urge to vomit.

It was a blurry photo of Charles on a recent newspaper clipping.

The headline read; _The Toppat's New Secret Weapon?_

***


	9. Chapter 9

_Charles is alive._

_Charles is being held hostage._

_Charles is a weapon._

_Charles is being used._

_Charles is alive!_

I couldn't stop lamenting, _ruminating_ over everything. I hit my fists against my head. If I hadn't left, Charles and I would have been reunited so much sooner, but I was so sure...

Then again...Petrov had assumed _I_ was dead, hadn't he? I guess you can never really know until you find a body, ey?

"Goddamit!" I kicked the general's desk, _"Ow!"_

_"You_ look like you're having fun."

"E-Ellie!" I leaned on the desk, rubbing my sore foot, "I'm sorry? Er...I can explain?"

"You don't have to. I get it." she stopped in front of me, crossing her arms, "You thought he was dead. You tried to move on. That's all there is to it."

No. She did understand, but she was heartbroken. I was now forced to confront my guilt head-on.

"Ellie, I...I do love you." I took her hands between us, "I didn't think this would happen."

"Are you going to choose him over me?"

She didn't say it in an angry or accusatory way. She just sounded curious. Curious and sad.

I decided to tell the truth. Anything less would only make things worse.

"I don't want to choose between you two." I brushed her hair back off her face, "I love Charles, but I also love you. I just...I don't..."

I didn't know how else to explain myself.

"Well, we'll need to talk to Charles about it..." Ellie kissed my cheek, "But I'm glad you're not immediately dropping me for him."

"Of course not. You know I wouldn't do that."

She held me in a crushing hug before pulling back and giving me a peck on the lips, "I know. Hey, we'll get Charles back. You know we will."

"I know." brushed a red hair behind her ear, "Thanks for sticking with me."

I stared at her for a long moment before letting my hand drop.

"So...what do you suggest we do?"

I sighed, rubbing my neck, "What do you think? We infiltrate the airship. We find out what happened to Charles, and we get him back."

Ellie closed her eyes, her brow furrowed, "Didn't you say it was Charles who worked with you in the past?"

"We can manage without him just this once." I walked out of the tent, "We need to stop the Toppats anyway, so once we get the general, we'll launch a full-scale attack and arrest-!"

An explosion shook the ground, and someone screamed.

My heart lurched, "Amelia! John! Gordon!" I sprinted to the sight of the explosion. John was lying on the ground, wheezing as he coughed up black smoke.

_"About time you showed up."_

"John, what happened!?" I helped him to his feet, "Where is..."

I trailed off when I saw the source of the explosion.

Red headphones. Hazel eyes. Green military jacket and loose blue jeans.

I trembled as I jumped in front of John, lifting an arm to shield him from the attacker. His entire left arm was a laser gun, his eyes empty and emotionless, but it was undeniably him.

I squeaked out, _"Charles?"_

Charles' eyes regained some of their light, "Henry...?"

_"Kill him!"_

Charles returned to his robotic state, pointing the gun at me and firing it up.

The voice that had spoken. It was...!

A hot flash of anger shot through my chest, "Reginald!"

Reginald was speaking through a megaphone some distance away, being protected by Right Hand Man, who I could tell, even from this distance, had a glowing red left eye.

"Henry!" Ellie took my wrist, "Come on, let's get out of here!"

I ignored her, "Charles, it's me! Henry!"

Charles' arm lowered slightly. He was wavering, tears in his eyes, but after a second or two, the gun powered up once again. I had seconds to decide what to do. I didn't want to hurt him, but I needed to do _something._ John was injured, and Ellie was in the line of fire.

Deciding on a course of action, I lunged forward and pushed Charles' arm into the air-!

_**BANG!** _

I forced my eyes open. I was staring right into Charles' eyes, mere inches away from his face. The gun was still held in my hands above us. Charles' irises flicked back and forth between hazel and black, stuck between familiarity and cold indifference.

_"Did you not hear me!?"_ Reginald spotted him across the field, _"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!"_

"HENRY!" Ellie yanked me back and forced me to start running.

I tried to break out of her grip, but she dragged me by the heels as reinforcements arrived and threw Charles off-balance. The sheer force of numbers overpowered him, and the Toppats beamed back to the airship.

"No! Don't shoot him!"

"Henry, will you pull yourself together!?" Ellie gave me a violent shake, "You've got a head on your shoulders, don't you!? _Use it!"_

I shook my head, feeling my eyeballs roll around in my face until I forced myself to take a huge, deep breath. She was right; Panicking was getting me nowhere. I needed to think clearly about this.

"Henry!" Galeforce pulled both of us aside, "I think I know what happened! Charles was complaining to me that his memories were fuzzy. It must have been easy to take advantage of him that way!"

Ellie tugged on her bangs, "And how in the world do you know that?"

_"Because of me!"_

I didn't recognize the newcomer, but Galeforce certainly did, "Doctor Vinschpinsilstien! You told us you wouldn't be here until tomorrow!"

The blonde scientist adjusted her glasses, "I left early when I heard of attack. When I gave Right Hand Man his augmentations, he suffered no memory loss, and so he would not be so vulnerable to rewiring. However, Charles was not so lucky. We cannot rely on his logical side to get him out of this mess."

That didn't sound good, "Then what _can_ we do!?"

"We need to rely on his emotional side!" Galeforce explained, "He has fairly strong emotions, but it would still need to be something _big!"_

My eyes landed on Ellie, and I forced my gaze to the ground. Was I really doing this? Was there no other way?

I covered my nose and mouth, sighing into my hands. _Why do I always get myself into these situations?_

"Okay, General..." I inwardly cringed, "I have an idea, but it's _insane."_

"We _need_ insane right now, boy! Lay it on me!"

***

I dropped onto the airship, Ellie beside me, and we got inside by simply waiting for someone on the other side to open the door for us. Once we determined we were alone, Ellie took my arm.

"You ready?"

I nodded, "Let's go."

I climbed the stairs two at a time, watching Ellie's back to ensure we weren't being followed. She led us through three doors and four hallways before we found where Charles was being kept. She climbed into the vent, motioning for me to follow, and we came across another vent, looking down over a dark room with many outlets and _many_ different wires.

Charles was sitting in a fold up chair, wired up to the huge machine all along one wall. Right Hand Man was standing beside him, whispering in his ear, his right arm jammed into Charles' spine as a steady stream of tears cascaded down his face.

I looked up just as Ellie kicked through a different vent cover, "I can only give you a few minutes. Good luck."

And then she was gone. A crash was heard in the hallway, and Right Hand Man quickly left the room, muttering annoyed curse words as the door shut behind him.

_Oh, don't worry._ I thought, falling through the ceiling into the room, _That's plenty of time for me._

I landed in a crouched position so my bent knees could catch my fall. I approached Charles slowly so as not to startle him, but he didn't look up even when I was right in front of him.

_"Charles."_ I whispered, struggling with the wires plugged into him, _"Hey. Charles."_

He squeezed his eyes shut, "Henry? Am I dreaming?"

"Not as far as I know." I finally got him unplugged, gripping both of his arms and hoisting him to his feet, "Hey, come on, let's go. The Toppats'll be back any minute."

"Henry, they...I..."

"Charles, listen to me."

"I'm sorry."

My next words died in my throat as Charles' laser gun arm lifted to point at my chest, the tip pressing into my sternum hard enough to bend my jacket around it.

"I'm sorry, Henry." Charles blinked, the hazel light returning slowly, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't know what's wrong with me. I-I didn't want to, I just-!"

"Charles, look at me." I touched the gun at my hip, but I _really_ didn't want to have to use it, "It's okay."

"N-No, it's not." he trembled, the laser arm firing up and turning red-hot, "I can't control it, but I should, but I don't know what to do and..."

"Charles, it's fine. I forgive you." I made sure he was disconnected from the system before taking his face in my hands, "I just hope you'll forgive me for this..."

And then I kissed him.

It was just like the first time. He stiffened, then he relaxed. I heard an electronic _Pop!_ come from his left side, and his left arm returned to normal as he took my face in his hands. His cybernetics must be back in order.

When I pulled away, he smiled at me. _Really_ smiled.

"Henry. _Henry."_ he giggled uncontrollably, peppering my face with kisses, "Henry! I'm so happy to see you!"

I laughed, grabbing his organic arm to haul him away, "Feeling's mutual, Buddy, but we need to get out of here. Ellie said she could only give me a few minutes."

I scrambled up into the vent system, and Charles followed close behind, "Who's Ellie?"

Oh right, he hadn't met her yet. Well, I'd just have to introduce him, but for now, we needed to get out of here.

"Charles, the doctor said she can fix the vulnerability in your code, but you need to get out of here first."

"No worries, Henry. I can fly us outta here in no time."

"No, you're going alone. I need to get Ellie first."

"If you're staying, then so am I."

I glared at him in the darkness of the vents, but then I sighed, "Fine, but you're staying in the shadows. We can't risk Right Hand Man rewiring you again."

"Okay. I'll stay out of your way."

"No need, boys."

Ellie burst through the vent opening above us just as a siren blared throughout the ship.

"We're leaving now."

***


	10. Chapter 10

"Charles." I steadied him as he landed, Ellie and I in each arm, _"Charles Charles Charles Charles..."_

"Hey, Henry." Charles shrugged, "I know, I've been a little, uh, you know, but I'm back! Surprise!"

"Charles, I can't believe it!" I was shaking as I hugged him again, "I missed you so much, Charles, I'm so happy to see you..."

His smile fell when he broke away from me, his gaze landing on Ellie, "So, Henry...uh...who's your friend?"

"This is Ellie." I replied as Ellie gave him a friendly wave, "She's kinda my...you know...since I thought you died and all..."

Here it is. The moment of truth. Would this be okay? Would they end up hating each other? Would I be forced to choose?

Instead, Ellie just kept on smiling, offering her hand for Charles to shake, "So, it seems we share the same boyfriend."

"So it does." Charles shook her hand firmly, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I've heard a lot of good things about you, Charles."

"Well, I hope to get to know you too!"

I couldn't believe my eyes. Not only were they being civil, but they seemed genuinely happy to be making the other's acquaintance!

"Hey, who knows?" Ellie stuffed her hands in her pockets, "Maybe _we'll_ end up dating each other, too."

"Ha! Like you have a chance with _me!_ You're dating _Henry!"_

"What!? So are you!"

"And do I _look_ like a smart guy? Nah, it's clear your standards are pretty low."

They both burst into laughter, and I breathed out a _huge_ sigh of relief. I should've known they'd get along, and not only that, but they were already dropping formalities! This was going much smoother than I anticipated.

I tugged both of them closer to me, kissing Charles quickly on the lips, followed by Ellie, "Hey, um, thanks."

Charles met Ellie's gaze again, and they smiled warmly at each other.

"So..." Charles said slowly, "What now?"

I let my hands trail down to each of theirs, "Well, we take down the Toppats. That's what we intended from the beginning, isn't it?"

"I actually don't remember what happened with the Toppat base." Charles scratched his head with his free hand, "Everything from before my upgrades is fuzzy at best."

_"'Taking down the Toppats'_ isn't going to work, Henry." Ellie said, using air quotes for emphasis, "If there's one thing I've learned about criminal organizations, it's that you can never really get rid of them. The best you can do is break them apart and hope they aren't smart enough to regroup."

"Then we'll do that!" I threw my arms into the air, "I'll kill Reginald and Right Hand Man if I have to! It's the least I could do to return the favor after he pushed me off his ship!"

"Your sense of justice is inspiring." Vinschpinsilstien entered the tent, "However, pure vindictiveness will get you nowhere, especially now."

"Hey, Doc." Charles rolled up his left sleeve, "Do your thing."

Vinschpinsilstien stuck a cord into his upper arm and fed a line of code into it through a small handheld device. Charles' eyes glazed over, half-lidded as the transfer continued, until there was a soft _Beep!_ and she unplugged the wire.

"There. Much better." Vinschpinsilstien held his shoulder when he threatened to tip over, "I wouldn't recommend facing Right Hand Man if you can help it, however you should be safer from rewiring now."

Charles replaced his sleeve, wilting in exhaustion.

"Hm? What's this?" Vinschpinsilstien read the numbers on her device, "You have not been charging?"

"How could I with Henry still out there?" Charles caught himself on the general's desk when he stumbled, "I was too worried to just sit there and charge!"

"If you do not charge, you risk permanent brain damage! Or worse!" Vinschpinsilstien's voice hardened, "The Toppats can wait. I forbid you from leaving this camp until you get proper charge! That is an order!"

I offered my arm to him, and he leaned on me gratefully. I led him from the tent towards his own, lying him in his sleeping bag as the Russian scientist set up a huge battery beside him and plugged it into the back of Charles' shoulder. The plug was flat, the cord coming out at an angle, so he didn't have to worry about it getting squashed in his sleep.

Charles immediately grew drowsy once he was plugged in, "It's not gonna be so easy next time, is it?"

I shook my head, "No. They'll be expecting us next time. We won't be able to just get in and get out like me and Ellie did to save you."

Charles forced a smile, and I pushed him into the sleeping bag, zipping it up and forcing him to hold still.

"Charles, you don't have to smile for me. Please." I begged, "I can't stand to see you doing that. Don't be afraid to be sad in front of me."

Charles' façade dropped like an anchor, and he choked back a sob.

"Don't leave, Henry." Charles held my hand in an iron-clad grip, "I'm afraid you won't be here when I wake up."

"I'm not going anywhere, Charles." I touched his cheek, "It's okay. I only left to cope with your death, so I have no reason to leave now."

"Promise?"

I offered a sad smile, "Yeah. I promise."

His grip loosened, "Thanks, Henry. You know...I always knew you were cool. Even before we officially met."

And then he was fast asleep.

Ellie's arms entered my peripheral vision, tucking his arms into the sleeping bag and bringing the edge in around his neck, "He sure is a lively one."

"Yeah. He's a little reckless, but he's such a good friend."

"You mean boyfriend?"

I looked up. Ellie raised an eyebrow, making me blush.

"D-Don't look at me like that!" I crossed my arms, "It wasn't official until today!"

"Oh yeah? When did you realize you had feelings for him?"

"Uh..." I sighed, _"Five days after we officially met..."_

"Wow."

I shoved her, and she caught herself, falling back on her elbows and settling on the ground beside the sleeping bag, cross-legged.

"In my defense, he's..." I deflated, losing the humor in my voice, "Charming. He's really charming."

Ellie poked Charles' cheek to make sure he was sound asleep, then she shimmied into the sleeping bag beside him, "This thing is pretty big, Henry. I bet it'll fit all three of us."

I watched her gently push Charles aside so there was an empty space between them, and before I'd fully thought it through, I was climbing in.

Well, it _did_ fit us, but it was a pretty tight fit. I suppose it didn't matter, though. As soon as I was in place, Ellie wrapped her arms around me from behind, giving me a firm squeeze before relaxing against my back and drifting off.

Charles was snoring softly as the gentle hum of the battery filled the small space. I pulled him closer to me, nuzzling my forehead into his cheek and feeling overwhelmed by joy and comfort, yet I couldn't shake the opposing feeling that something was about to go very, _very_ wrong.

_Please._ I thought, praying to whatever deity might exist.

_Please don't take this away from me._

***

For once, I was the first to wake up. Charles was a natural early bird while Ellie was a light sleeper from years on the run. Even if I did end up waking early, I figured it would be because of a nightmare or because I was under attack.

But when I blinked up at the cloth ceiling of the military tent, the early morning sun shining through the flap door as wild tropical birds sang outside, I realized that I had simply woken up because I was well-rested. I didn't need any more sleep, so I was awake. It was something I never thought could happen to me. Even before I robbed that bank, I got little sleep due to my precarious situation, and I always, without fail, woke up feeling like I'd been hit with a brick.

I didn't want to move too much in case I woke my bedmates, but I did manage to reach my cellphone with minimal flailing. 7:20 am. Did I really fall asleep so quickly? I didn't remember tossing and turning once I'd climbed into the sleeping bag, so that meant I'd fallen asleep at just past six pm! I was literally dead asleep for 13 hours!

I suppose I had been sleep deprived for a long time, and even when I was cozied up with Ellie in the forest, my worries over Charles' memory still prevented me from feeling safe enough to sleep. Now though, my biggest worry was just...not having them here I guess, but here they were, safe and sound.

I dropped my cellphone on the ground beside Charles' battery, and it landed with a dull _thud._ Charles for his part was snuggled into my shoulder, hugging my arm, while Ellie's head rested on my chest as it slowly rose and fell.

I could already tell; This was the calm before the storm. I could easily lose both of them by the end of the day, or die myself in the line of fire. The Toppats were not to be taken lightly, and my naïvety in the face of so much impending danger was the very reason I didn't see Reginald's betrayal sooner. It had been a huge wake-up call for me.

What if I could never have this again?

My breath hitched against my will, and Ellie stirred.

_"Mmm..."_ she yawned as she lifted her head, "Henry? You alright?"

I huffed out a laugh. I'd never seen sleepy Ellie before. I ran my fingers through her fluffy bedhead. How cute! She tried to glare at me, but ended up sleepily giggling instead.

"Oh yeah? Well think about what I did to Petrov's face and remember that it coulda been yours."

"There she is." I pushed a lock of hair back from where it had been stuck to her face, "Sometimes I wish I had hair."

She leaned into my touch, laying her head back down and pressing her ear to my chest, "Hey, what was that all about? Before? Is something bothering you?"

I kept petting her head as I looked up at the ceiling, "No."

"Liar."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." I turned my head to rest it against Charles', "Can't we just...exist like this a little longer?"

She looked like she wanted to press the issue, but instead she closed her eyes and relaxed against me once again.

The scientist, Vinschpinsilstien, entered the tent, and I pretended to be asleep while she knelt by the battery and checked on Charles. I didn't really know what she was doing, but by the time she was finished she put down the thing she was holding and stared off into space.

"I know you are awake."

I snapped my eyes open.

"I heard talking before. You know camp has no walls, _верный?"_

I glared at her from where she was crouched beside the battery, "Well, gee, I didn't think anyone would be rude enough to eavesdrop."

"It's really hard not to. Camp is small."

She looked at the screen on whatever thing she had plugged into the battery.

"You know, Charles would not stop talking about you."

I looked at her again. She was still inspecting her screen.

"While in my care. You see, he suffered memory loss as a result of severe injury and oxygen deprivation, particularly to left side of his body, and yet when he woke up, first thing he did was ask about you, though he had no context for why he was worried."

I glanced at Charles, still curled up around me. He looked so peaceful like that, "I'm not surprised. The last I saw of him, he had sent me off into the last escape pod alone because there was a Toppat clan member who tried to kill me. He got beaten up in the scuffle pretty bad. We spoke through our headsets after that, and even though Charles was seconds away from death, he still tried to put on a happy voice for me."

"Ah. So Charles was concerned about if you had returned to Earth and had made it to safe place." Vinschpinsilstien disconnected Charles from the battery, and he blinked before drifting off again, "You know, Henry, Charles is much stronger with enhancements, but he is not invincible. You must do your part to keep him safe."

"Yeah, of course."

And so she left, taking out a small notebook to jot something down as she headed back outside.

***


	11. Chapter 11

It was a few more minutes before Charles woke up in earnest, rubbing his eyes, my arm still cradled against his chest. We made eye contact, and he smiled.

"Oh my gosh." he nuzzled into me again, "It wasn't a dream! You're here!"

"Yeah. I am."

I was feeling pretty restless by now, just lying around doing nothing for several minutes, so by 7:30, I decided to get up, though Ellie and Charles stayed, quietly chatting back and forth to each other. My arm had fallen asleep from Ellie lying on it, so once I was up, I had to shake it to try and disperse the pins and needles.

By the time we were all up and out of the tent, it was 7:45. General Galeforce had a map set up on the table in the clearing, and he was going over various plans with the dozen or so soldiers that were there.

"About time you three showed up." Galeforce waved us over, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

I gestured for him to continue.

"Well, yesterday morning, as you know, Charles was in the hands of the Toppats. He created an explosion that injured several soldiers. The bad news is that last night, Amelia Esteban was declared dead."

"D-Declared...?" Charles shook when a violent shiver wracked his body.

"That's right. She was _declared_ dead. She had no brain activity last night for two hours, and nobody noticed. It was a night patrol soldier who realized she wasn't breathing and called for help. She should have died, but miraculously, as we have a certain scientist staying with us, Esteban was revived, as were many other soldiers who were in the hospital wing fighting for their lives."

"Wha..." Charles found Vinschpinsilstien in the crowd, "Doc?"

"Reviving them was far easier than it was for you." she explained with a smile, "They won't even need extra help or specialized equipment like you did."

"Indeed, and we have you to thank in part, Charlie."

"B-b-but...it was _me_ who caused that explosion in the first place...?"

"Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows you weren't yourself then." Galeforce moved around the table to take Charles' shoulder, "But if you hadn't been revived by the good doctor here, she wouldn't have been here to save our soldiers."

I could tell Charles wasn't convinced. He looked so guilty it actually kinda broke my heart.

"Oh, and before I forget, Henry." Galeforce held up a familiar item of clothing, "This is for you."

I grinned, "My hoodie!" I took it, holding it to my cheek. It smelled like it was freshly washed.

"Now go get ready for the mission. I wanna see you three in tip top shape by eight o'clock!"

The three of us saluted, "Sir yes Sir!"

Since we weren't ordinary soldiers, we weren't required to strictly adhere to military uniform. That's why I was allowed to wear my blue hoodie even on missions. There were no showers in the camp, but we did have soap and water pumps. It didn't surprise me that once Charles was freshened up, he immediately changed into another of his green bomber jackets with his blue jeans and red sneakers. I wasn't sure what Ellie had in mind when we told her about the dress code situation, but when she came out in a cropped sweatshirt with a black-and-red-striped shirt underneath, fitted black jeans, and black combat boots, I thought it suited her.

"Where'd you get all that?" Charles asked.

"I was hiding this striped shirt in my big jacket when I stole my things back from Petrov." Ellie explained, "The rest was in stock here at camp. I'm especially fond of the boots. They're nice and sturdy. Too bad I wasn't allowed to wear anything like this as a field agent."

"Why not?"

"Dress code. I was regularly inside civilian homes, and they probably wouldn't appreciate their nice polished floors getting scratched by steel-reinforced soles."

For my part, I wore my blue jeans, my favorite blue sneakers, and of course, the hoodie. Once I pulled it on over my head, I really felt like myself again.

We all headed back outside, and Galeforce faced us with his arms crossed, "Alright, you three. This will be your most important mission. Find a way to bring down this fleet and prevent their group from coming back stronger. Now, I know you two don't owe us anything, Henry and Ellie, but we could really use your help on this one. Complete this mission, and we'll be owing you a big-big ol' favor!"

Charles gave a thumbs-up, "You can count on us, General!"

"Oh, and one more thing." Galeforce scrutinized Charles sternly enough to make him shy away, "Vinschpinsilstien told me to pass on a message to you, Charlie. Though you've done well in the healing department, you're not fit for combat duty. Don't overexert yourself, or you may find yourself dead for good."

Charles swallowed, and Ellie took his hand to give it a squeeze.

"Y-Yes sir."

"Good. Now get going."

The three of us boarded Charles' helicopter, and he hesitantly started it up.

Once we were in the air, I placed my hand on Charles' wrist, "You know...it's possible that one or more of us won't make it out alive..."

Charles tried to force a smile, _again,_ "Aw, Henry, don't think like that-!"

"I'm _serious!"_

Charles' and Ellie's gazes snapped up to me as I leaned on the wall of the helicopter to look out the windshield.

"Charles, how much do you remember about the Toppat space station?"

"Um, honestly not much." Charles switched into autopilot mode, "I remember crashing the secret government prototype, and I remember you asking me if I was hurt, but everything else is pretty fuzzy. Why?"

I frowned, trying to look angry rather than desolate, as I knelt beside him, gripping the back of his chair for balance and looking up into those murky, hazel eyes.

"Charles...I know what it's like to lose someone I love. When I saw that space station explode, and heard your voice cut out in my earpiece, I physically felt a part of me dying." I took his robotic hand in both of mine, "I know I have you back now, but it's too late. I watched you die, I felt it, and while I'm happy you didn't die for good, I still had to cope with that grief, and I still feel like there's a part of me I'll never get back!"

My vision blurred as my eyes filled with tears, and I shut them tight, dropping my forehead to rest on my outstretched arms, still holding Charles' hand.

"You should have made it out with me." I gave a shaky sigh, "If I have to lose you or Ellie forever... _I don't know what I'd do..."_

Charles let me cry for a moment before lifting my head to make me meet his gaze. I thought he was forcing a smile again, which I was about to scold him for, but this time, it was a real smile, though there were tears in his eyes.

"Henry..." he said teasingly, "Do you really have such little faith in us?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, you're not giving us much credit, dude." Ellie lounged back in the copilot seat, "Remember when you gave me an out in the forest and I hit Petrov's face with a stop sign? I bet he's still missing teeth from that."

"And remember when you supported my plan to hit the Toppat airship with my helicopter? We didn't end up actually doing it, but you got it."

"And remember when you stole a truck and it inspired me to escape The Wall?"

"And remember when you hit that Toppat guy with a spider-stick to get records to me?"

"And remember when you patched my gunshot wound?"

Charles' eyebrows shot up as he turned to her, "He patched your gunshot wound!?"

"Yup." Ellie shoved her boot off and hiked up her pant leg, "Got a pretty gnarly-looking scar out of it, too."

Sure enough, there was an ugly, still-healing scar on the back of her calf where she'd been shot about 2 weeks prior.

"Wow. Nice."

"Okay, guys, I get it." I stood up to move between the two seats as Ellie replaced her boot, "I know we can do a lot, and we most certainly can do more together, but I've faced the Toppats enough times to know that they aren't going easy on us! If we fail, we'll lose our lives! Or _worse!"_

_"Henry."_

My next words died in my throat. Charles had said my name so forcefully that I simply forgot what I was going to say next.

"I remembered something the other day." Charles grabbed the front of my hoodie, "When Reginald pushed you out of the airship, your first instinct was to call for me. I remember it clear as day, as if it only happened yesterday, _'Charles, I'm falling. I need you.'"_ he looked me in the eye with a serious expression I'd never seen on him, _"'I'm falling, Charles. Help me.'"_

Well, sure...now that I thought about it...

"You kissed me that day. After I saved you." he went back to the controls when the helicopter drifted, "I think now I know why. You didn't want to talk about it afterwards, and you agreed that we should pretend it never happened. Henry...you were afraid of losing me. Of losing your last chance to do it."

I felt a lump form in my throat, and I tried to swallow.

"It's been running through my head now for days." Charles twisted around in his seat to touch my arm, "I know you're terrified. I am too, but we can do this. I was actually excited about this mission, because it's my first with Ellie, and I'm pretty curious to know how she captured your heart."

Ellie cocked her head, "Feelings' mutual, Bud."

"Thanks. Look, the point is, if you keep worrying about it, it's going to drive you crazy. You need to focus. Don't overthink it. That's the Stickmin way, isn't it?"

"But the last time I did that, I...you..."

"What? _Died?"_

I think something about my expression tipped him off, because he sighed, grabbing me and laying me down in his lap. I hugged him tight. He felt so different with the cybernetics, but it was still so obviously him.

"Henry, there _is_ a possibility that we could die fighting the Toppats, I know, but don't be so pessimistic! We can do this!"

"Yeah. What happened to the guy who pulled a face at Grigori to surprise him into dropping me?" Ellie jumped up to lean on Charles' armrest, "That's what I like about you, Henry. Even when you don't feel confident, you bullshit your way through something until it works. We need that kind of recklessness if we're going to outsmart the Toppats."

"Yeah. I only died because we let our guard down." Charles suddenly straightened, hitting a button on the dash, "Charles to base, I'm closing in on the airship."

_"Good work, Charlie! Let us know when you've dropped off your soldiers."_

Ellie glanced up at him, "Dropped off?"

"Yeah. I'm not going in with you. I can help from out here." Charles leaned over the two of us, "Uh, you guys should probably get ready to drop."

I hugged Charles again, giving him a peck on the cheek before twisting out of his grasp, "Fine, but you need to listen to me, Charles. If I tell you fall back, you fall back. No sense getting all three of us killed if we can help it."

Charles shot me a teasing smile, "Sorry, Henry, but you aren't the captain. I don't have to follow your orders."

"I'm not _ordering_ you! I'm _begging_ you!"

"I'm not abandoning you, Henry! Soldier's honor is to leave no man behind!"

"You _will_ fall back if I tell you to, Charles!"

"Guys! We don't have time to argue about this!" Ellie dragged me out of the cockpit, "We need to get ready to drop!"

I glared at Charles until Ellie shut the cockpit door, breaking my line of sight.

"Henry, listen. I know you're stressed, but it's not like you to try and leave someone out of your plans. Charles can do what he wants."

I didn't look at Ellie until she was done talking. When I did, her hardened frown fell, and she used her thumb to wipe a tear from my cheek.

"This isn't goodbye." she said, "I promise. We'll be okay."

I could see the airship approaching through the window, and with a deep sigh, I steeled myself and nodded.

"Good. Now, don't rest yet. We're in this together."

Linking arms with her once more, I slid the cargo bay door open, and the blast of wind hit me in the face.

_"Check check, this is Charles! Can you hear me, Henry?"_

I confirmed that I could hear him fine.

_"Check check, this is Charles! Do you read me, Ellie?"_

"Read you loud and clear, Charles."

_"Great. I'll be here. Knock 'em dead, guys!"_

And with that, the two of us leapt from the helicopter, heading towards the huge red airship that would hopefully meet its demise.

***


	12. Chapter 12

We crashed into the window of a side room, luckily one that was empty. Ellie had gone in feet-first, so neither of us got hurt on the broken glass since her steel-soled combat boots didn't sustain so much as a scratch. Huh. Maybe she was onto something, there.

"Okay, Ellie." I glanced out into the hallway, also empty, "I have a crazy idea. Just work with me here, okay? We'll scope the place out."

"Sure."

I found a way back through the vent system, avoiding busy hallways and such until we got the general scope of the ship. Most of the crew was in the cockpit, where Reginald and Right Hand Man were speaking with a blond-haired man that I didn't recognize, but Ellie certainly did.

"Hey! That's Sven Svennson!" she stage-whispered to me, her hand pressed against the glass of the vent, "I didn't know he was with the Toppats..."

"What'd he do?"

"He's a thief. Plain and simple." her eyes widened, "Hey, is that...?"

I looked beyond the cockpit out the windshield. I couldn't believe my eyes! There were complex helicopters surrounding the airship, and each one tried to fire different weapons at the shield to make it cave!

_"Whoa! Looks like the Toppats already have someone after them!"_ Charles' voice crackled in our earpieces, _"Sorry, guys, but I need to keep my distance to avoid detection!"_

Ellie hadn't heard. She was close to hyperventilating.

"Roger that, Charles. We'll be careful." I shook her shoulders, "Ellie, why are you so afraid of them? Every time I've seen you encounter them, you get this look in your eyes, and-!"

"It's not them." Ellie grit her teeth, steadying herself on my arms, "Or, I guess it's not really most of them. It's Petrov I'm afraid of."

Well. That came as a surprise, considering the stunt with the stop sign.

"You haven't seen what he does to people." Ellie explained, "Specifically, what he does to convicts who step out of line. You escaped before you could see it, but I was there longer."

_"Hey! Get off our ship! Stop!"_ Reginald's voice came echoing through the hall, _"Get him! Stop him! Fire all weapons!"_

"Come on, we gotta get outta here." I pulled Ellie along to force her through the vent, "Let's enact that plan I mentioned! I swear, it's a bit convoluted, but if we play our cards right..."

I landed in the empty cargo bay, but once we were on the ground, Ellie twisted her arm out of my grasp, backing away and hugging herself tightly.

"Ellie..." I took her head in my hands, brushing her hair from her face, "Ellie, listen. It's okay. He can't catch us here. This is different."

"Henry..."

Her voice trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut. It hurt seeing her like this.

"There's a reason there was never an incident in the fifty years that Petrov's been in charge. He has this place called the maximum security ward, and it's full of concrete, perfectly silent rooms that are guarded under three layers of security. Guards, cameras, the works. Each has an iron door with four locks. No windows. Hardly any light, no objects, no furniture. They don't even feed you at regular intervals, and sometimes they don't feed you at all for days."

Perfect solitude. No sense of passing time. I opened my mouth, but no words came to mind. None that would help, anyway.

"The first time I tried to escape, I was caught. They threw me in there. I had nothing, Henry. Nothing but my own thoughts. I started hallucinating. I couldn't sleep because of the ringing in my ears and the nightmares. The food was tasteless, and the water tasted like metal. I was finally let out after what felt like years, but it had only been eleven days! Not even two weeks in that cell, and I'd completely lost my mind!"

I hugged her, running my fingers through her hair. It seemed to calm her.

"They didn't even give you a toilet?"

Trembling violently, she shook her head.

I held her tighter in an attempt to calm her down, but also in anger that Petrov would do this to anyone, let alone someone who hadn't even done anything seriously wrong. Especially someone like Ellie. One thing was certain though, the bone-chilling terror in her eyes now made a lot more sense.

"He can't get you here." I pulled back to look into her eyes, which were filled with tears, "This is a different playing field. There are different rules. Petrov can't exploit his authority all the way out here, so we just have to keep our wits about us and we'll be fine."

Ellie nodded slowly, "I know, but I hate how scared I am of him. I'm scared that if he catches me, I'll never get out of that cell again, and now that you're here too-!"

"Hey, listen, okay? If it helps, I'm afraid of him too. He's pretty scary, but I'll protect you, okay? Just like you did for me."

Her tears came back full-force, and she grabbed my head to kiss me on the lips. I roughly ran my hands along her shoulders and back, holding her close and hoping she got the message. _I'm here. You can feel me, right? It's nothing like that empty cell. You're safe and this is real._

_"Uhh, guys!? Toppat approaching!"_

We broke off, seemingly coming to the realization that this was not the right time. I cleared my throat before taking Ellie's hand and hiding us behind one of the huge cardboard boxes that littered the cargo bay.

"-and the Russian government is at our doorstep! We cannot delay the launch any longer!"

"Reg, I get where you're goin' with this. I really do, but in my opinion, it's just not worth the risk!"

I peeked around the corner. I'd know those voices anywhere. Reginald and Right Hand Man. We were tentative allies at one point in time, after all, but I still had to actually see them to confirm it was them. Reginald had a new hat, and he wore an outfit that was slightly less bejeweled than I remember, and as Charles had said before, Right Hand Man had been given cybernetic upgrades. His right arm, as well as his legs and the whole left side of his head were made of metal. I hadn't gotten a good look at them when Charles created that explosion at the campsite, and seeing them now, I had to restrain myself from giving away my hiding spot just so I could beat them up.

"Right Hand Man, we already lost most of our fortune when the space station exploded! Honestly, what have we still got left to lose!?"

"What about you, then!? What about the rest of our crew, we can't just hand 'em over to the government!"

"Which is why we're sitting ducks right now! Just watch, Henry is three seconds from showing up out of nowhere to take everything for himself!"

I shifted back into hiding, looking for a way to sneak through undetected, but Reg and RHM were still too close to the doorway. Ellie squeezed my hand, and I turned back to look at her.

_"We'd better go back the way we came."_

A plan formed in my head as I began to nod, and as we climbed back up through the vents, I heard the tail end of Reginald and Right Hand Man's conversation.

"Well, alright. We'll go ahead with the plan. We do need to protect our youngest recruits, but we'd better get rid of the Russian government first."

***

Once back in an empty room, I called up Charles, "Hey, Charles, can we arrest Petrov?"

_"Uhh, what d'you mean?"_

"You know, like, arrest him. Take him into government custody."

_"You do mean Dmitri Johannes Petrov, right? You can't arrest him, he outranks even the General where he's from."_

"Well, then that settles it." I ran through the hallway, Ellie behind me, "I'm going to kill him."

_"What!? Henry, he's a respected Russian government official! If you kill him, it'll be perceived as a war crime!"_

"I don't care! Charles, you don't know what he's done!" I turned the corner, coming across the boardwalk to the vault, where there were mounted gatling guns just waiting to be used, "Ellie told me about him, and the way he's tortured people...we need to seek justice somehow!"

Charles was quiet as I loaded up the huge guns and got them ready to fire. They were remotely operated, but luckily, the controls were nearby, as I prepared to fire my first shot at a complex helicopter, Charles finally responded.

_"Fine, but you need to be prepared to face the consequences if they come looking for us. General Galeforce will be blamed for it, so, well, if you're really going through with this, you need to tell the court you were acting outside his orders. Got it?"_

"I read you loud and clear, Charles." I clicked open the button for the leftmost gatling gun, "Oh, and one more thing? Stay back from the airship. I don't want to hit you by accident."

And then I fired.

The string of bullets that poured from the guns was unbelievable. It was like a showerhead spraying water with how quickly these bullets were spewing out. Ellie took over the rightmost guns, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing as me.

"We're karma's angels." I said as the first wave of helicopters fell from the sky.

Ellie grinned, "You're damn right we are!"

A voice came over the speaker on the ceiling, _"Everyone, we're losing altitude! Get off the weapons, we're fighting these guys on the ground!"_

"Crap!" Ellie yanked me from the controls, and I stumbled trying to keep up with her.

_"Guys! The ship is about to crash!"_ Charles yelled, practically giggling with glee, _"Sorry, but I need to get closer!"_

"Charles, no!"

_"Charles, yes!"_

"Wait, what's he going to do!?" Ellie ran after me as I headed off in another direction, "Where are you going!?"

"He's gonna crash his helicopter into the airship!"

"What!?"

"I would usually let him, but the last time he crashed it-!"

My breath was stolen from me, and I tripped, catching myself on the wall as the sound of helicopter blades outside got louder and louder-!

_CRASH!_

I couldn't breathe. If Charles hadn't crashed into the Toppat space station, he wouldn't have gotten so hurt. He wouldn't have died. He wouldn't have needed extensive surgeries. He would have come out okay and I wouldn't have this gaping hole in my heart that hurt so much and it was all my-!

"HENRY!"

I snapped back to reality. Charles had already gotten out of the crumpled vehicle and was holding me up to prevent me from falling.

He had a bruise on his cheek, and a cut across his forehead. I tore my earpiece out, gasping for air.

"Come on! The airship is going down!" Charles carried me to the window, "Ready!?"

"Ready!" Ellie tossed me a parachute, and I fumbled as I caught it.

"Three, two, one..." Charles jumped, "NOW!"

The three of us bailed, and holding hands, we activated our parachutes.

The airship was rapidly falling, and that became obvious as soon as we were in the air. Once it collided with the ground, it exploded, throwing fire across the battlefield. As we got closer to landing, Petrov's silhouette came into focus, and Ellie huddled closer to me, her grip hard enough to make my arm go numb.

"Okay, Charles." I spoke just loud enough for him to hear over the rushing wind and explosions, "You need to get out of here. If Reg sees us with you, my plan will be ruined!"

"Alright, but I'll be nearby if you need me!"

Charles jumped out of his parachute and sprouted metal wings on his back, rocketing away with a salute and a smile.

Ellie's grip on me loosened slightly, "Oh. I forgot he could do that."

"Okay, Ellie." I steered us away from the raining gunfire, "Don't lose your nerve. Petrov has no power over us here, so we don't have to surrender to him."

"I know. Don't worry about me."

We jumped from our parachutes about 20 feet from the ground, and we slid down the crumpled airship wing as we joined a group of soldiers, loudly shouting about what the heck they were supposed to do now that they were outnumbered.

"Guys!" I waved my arms. Someone in the crowd shouted, _"Hey! It's Henry!"_ and that got everyone to shut up and listen, "I need you all to fall back! I have a plan! Tell Galeforce to retrieve his troops, and don't come back until I give the green light! NOW GO!"

Nobody moved at first, but I saw Charles speaking rapidly into his newly-damaged headset in the distance, and I don't know what he said or did, but the troops cleared pretty quickly after that.

Ellie took her own earpiece out and stuffed it in her shirt pocket, "Henry, what are you planning?"

I looked around the broken wing to see Petrov advancing on the Toppats. I needed to act fast, or my plan would be ruined.

"I'm gonna gain the Toppat's trust." I told her.

Taking the pistol holstered at my hip, I checked the cartridge. Six bullets were inside. I would likely only get one shot, and my aim with a gun was notoriously bad, so I could almost physically feel the pressure as I cocked the gun and lifted my arm to aim at Petrov's head.

My hand was shaking from anger. Ellie never cried. She just didn't, even when she was hurt or scared, so the fact that she'd been _bawling_ at the memory of Petrov's punishment confirmed to me that this torture had truly broken her. It was a wonder she still decided to escape after her first attempt led to something so awful.

I tried to steady my hand, but I must have been moving too fast, because Petrov turned his head in my direction.

I cursed under my breath.

I expected him to pounce on me immediately, maybe send his squad after me, but he didn't know my aim was bad, and he wanted to live through this encounter if he could help it, so instead, he turned his pistol towards me where it had previously pointed at Reginald.

"Well well well..." Petrov sneered at me, the wrinkles around his eyes becoming more pronounced, "If it ithn't Henry Stickmin and Ellie Rose."

I carefully and slowly emerged from my hiding spot, my left arm coming out to shield Ellie. I could tell she was ready to run for the hills, but she couldn't leave me without going out into the open.

_Don't run._ I tried to project into her mind as I blocked her escape, _Don't you dare give yourself to them._

I noticed that Petrov still had several teeth missing from when Ellie had hit him with the stop sign, so now he spoke with a slight lisp. It would have been funny if he wasn't currently looking at me over the barrel of his gun. I carefully inched towards him, steadying my finger over the trigger. I was chilled by terror, but my anger kept me going, step by step, until I was right in front of Reginald and Right Hand Man, blocking Petrov from reaching them, my arm still out to protect Ellie.

"You two have given me so much trouble." Petrov's gun was aimed right between my eyes, his arm much more steady than mine, "You have ruined my reputation. And now, I will ruin you!"

I spat at him, _"Shut up, you old creep!"_

_That_ seemed to get their attention. Everything was still and silent. Grigori lowered his weapon, and Reginald whispered, _"Is that Henry?"_ to his fellow Toppats.

"I have nightmares about your complex." I carefully shifted my gun so I was holding it with both hands, "Even though I'm not wanted anymore, you keep hunting me down relentlessly. Even after you're dead, I'm going to keep being haunted by your image for the rest of my life. If that isn't ruining me, then I don't know what is."

Petrov's arm began to shake. I needed to shoot him first, but my arm wasn't holding still-!

"This is absurd! Of course you're thtill wanted, why else would that helicopter guy chase after you so relentlessly!?"

_Okay okay okay first of all how can you possibly know about Charles!?_ I concealed my thoughts behind a wall of indifference, "The helicopter guy? If you mean Charles, he wasn't even in the country when I was arrested by you. How could you possibly know he was chasing me down?"

Something flashed across his features, but it wasn't there long enough for me to identify what it was, "How could I _not_ know? He wath in your file! He invaded my airspace multiple times thearching for you after I declared you dead!"

_He was?_ I felt something fluttering in my stomach, but I forced my face to remain impassive. Charles flew through Russia in his helicopter searching for me? What else did Petrov know about him? How much had he told his soldiers?

Ellie gently touched my shoulder. I just couldn't keep him alive. He was a danger to all of us if he remained so. The only way he would be useful to me is if he was six feet under.

"You'll get him in trouble." Petrov taunted, "Just lower your weapon, and your death will be thwift and painleth."

If he kept pointing his weapon at me, I was in danger of being shot as soon as I attempted to pull the trigger, but we couldn't stay at this standstill forever.

I wanted Ellie to be safe.

Steeling myself, I said, "Reginald, Right Hand Man, I need you to listen to Ellie, okay? And Reg...I forgive you."

And then I pulled the trigger.

***


	13. Chapter 13

I squeezed my eyes shut once I heard the gunshot go off. For one fleeting second, I feared that I'd been too late or I had missed and Petrov had put a bullet through my head.

"NOO!"

I opened my eyes. Grigori was shaking Petrov's body, who's eyes were unfocused as blood poured from a wound on his forehead.

I dropped my gun. Petrov was dead.

I nearly cried in sheer relief alone. Petrov was dead. Justice was served.

Until Grigori got this wild look in his eyes and lunged for me-!

_BANG!_

Grigori dropped dead. Ellie had pulled her gun when she saw him reaching for me. We had the dead bodies of two major government officials on our hands. Now, we just had to find a way to cover for the general.

The rest of the Russian fleet retreated, speaking rapidly into their communicators, and all was quiet.

Before I could make another move, though, Ellie swivelled me around to face her and slapped me _hard_ across the face.

"Ow!"

"You IDIOT!" she screamed, "You could have gotten yourself KILLED! You didn't even explain what the plan was! Do you know what I would have done if you had DIED!?"

I touched my throbbing cheek, stammering as I tried to think of a suitable response. Looking back, what I had done was pretty impulsive, and I didn't think about what it would look like to her.

Finally, I hushed out some kind of apology, and Ellie sighed.

"Please. Don't do that again." she said softer, "You really scared me."

I hugged her, and she squeezed me tight, probably to make sure I was still responsive.

"Uhh..." Reginald cleared his throat to get my attention, "Henry, it's good to see you again, but where on earth have you been?"

Right Hand Man looked between the both of us, "Henry, why did you say that you forgive Reggie? What'd 'e do?"

It occurred to me in that moment that Reginald hadn't told anyone else what had happened. Were the others loyal to me still? What had he told them?

I looked to Reginald for an explanation, and he shifted awkwardly under my gaze until he said, "Well, you see, I uh...took over after you disappeared. We've all missed you. Welcome back, Chief."

Well. Okay. Fine, then. I could play his little game.

"Thanks, Reg." I nudged Ellie, "This is Ellie. She'll be my Right Hand Lady."

Ellie gave an uncertain wave.

"It's nice t' meet you." Right Hand Man had a slight voice alteration, probably due to his cybernetics, "I coulda sworn though, I saw both o' you in the government camp. What were you doin' there if you weren't with 'em?"

_Oh boy,_ "Look, it's a long story, but we need to get out of here. That helicopter guy is coming back, and we can't afford to get you guys arrested again."

"Oh, come now. I can just rewire him again."

"NO!"

The group of Toppats looked at me quizzically. _Shit._

"He's gotten stronger since you last had him." Ellie lied smoothly, "If you try to rewire him again, you could get seriously hurt."

"Oh yeah? Who gave 'im the upgrade?"

"Vinschpinsilstien."

Right Hand Man nodded, annoyance crossing his features, "Alright, I believe you. We need to retreat anyway, come on."

Before we left, though, I pulled a piece of cardstock from my pocket and a ballpoint pen, scribbling a quick note and stuffing it in the breast pocket of Petrov's uniform before following the Toppats to the escape bay of the broken ship.

It read;

_You have no one to blame but me. I did this to seek justice, not as a political move, therefore, it is not assassination. I did this on my own, under nobody's orders.  
Signed, Henry Stickmin._

***

I had a bad feeling as soon as we were inside the Toppat bunker, so I decided to do some sleuthing while Reg and RHM were preoccupied. Ellie made sure we were alone in the hallway before asking what I was up to, and we emerged in the barracks while we waited for the coast to clear.

"Whoa." Ellie jumped into the top bunk, "I'm impressed that you thought so far ahead."

I'd be impressed too, honestly. I'm not exactly known for my foresight. I climbed into the bottom bunk, and Ellie looked down at me, smirking as her red hair fell down around her upside-down head.

"What, you're not gonna join me?"

"Ellie, these people don't know we're together like that. What if someone catches us?"

"Then you have more of an explanation for how little you care about helicopter guy."

That comment stung, but I didn't say so.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we aren't going to bed yet."

"Oh." Ellie slid off the top bunk to cozy up by my side, "Then where _are_ we off to?"

"Maybe if you let go of me, I could show you."

Ellie nuzzled into my shoulder, "Can't it wait a few minutes?"

"Ellie..."

"Fine, fine." she climbed out of the bed to land on the floor, "Where're we going?"

"I'll show you." I followed her to the door, glancing out into the hallway before heading out, "Now that their attention is off of us, we can enact the real plan. See, I thought we were going to have to work a lot harder to convince the Toppats to let me back in, but I guess Reg never told them anything, so we have _some_ kind of advantage, at least..."

Ellie climbed up the stairs after me, "You don't think Right Hand Man caught onto our bluff...?"

"I don't know, but I'm not gonna risk it."

We walked in silence for a bit before Ellie stuffed her hands in her pockets, softly whistling to herself before asking;

"So, Henry. You gotta plan?"

"This _is_ the plan." I replied, "But I'm a little worried. I didn't fully explain what I was doing to Charles, and I don't want him to suddenly show up and get hurt." I looked around before switching on the earpiece, "Charles, this is Henry. Do you copy?"

No answer.

"Charles? Please respond, I'm worried about you. Over."

He still didn't reply.

"God okay here we go." I hurried to the surface, "He'd better not be here or I swear to god-!"

We emerged in the concrete hallway. It was empty, aside from a few stray members nervously exchanging words in hushed voices, and one of them, a lad with blond hair and a blue top hat, approached us. I recognized him, too. He was the one Ellie had called "Sven Svennson". I also noticed that he spoke with a slight Swedish accent.

"So, you're Henry Stickmin?" he shook my hand, "You can call me Sven. Where have you been all this time? You disappeared just before the airship division was arrested."

I made some offhand excuse about getting caught by the government, and he considered it before nodding.

"Well, we did hear that you were captured by the government pilot. What a cad. At least you're back now."

My anger flared at the insult to Charles, but by some miracle, I managed to hide it.

"Just try not to wander. We have a meeting in five minutes. Hey, what's that?"

He was gesturing to my earpiece. I pocketed it as I explained that I had stolen it from helicopter guy.

"Well, okay. If you say so."

And then he was gone.

Ellie shot me a deadpan look, her eyebrow raised, "We're going to wander, aren't we?"

I put a finger to my lips, "Only a little bit. Come on. Let's see what we can find out."

The bunker was mostly just the three basement floors, with a sparse aboveground floor that expertly hid the intricacies of the floors underneath.

I stopped at an open door on one side of the conference room. Inside was a small office with an old computer at a rickety desk.

My eyes brightened, "Yo! They have Civ Five!"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Henry!"

"Sorry." I sat at the computer, pulling up a file and lounging back in the chair, "Whoa."

"What?" Ellie looked over my shoulder.

"The Toppats have a backup rocket!" I skimmed the plans, my heart dropping like a rock into my stomach, "And it's ready to launch _today!"_

"Oh." Ellie took the mouse from me to scroll through the plans. Pages and pages of documentation, from planned raides, to deals with politicians, to the $25,000 vault they'd set aside on Earth in case they lost their original space station.

That is, the vault _alone_ was worth all that money. That number didn't include everything stored inside.

Ellie watched with increasing curiosity and dread, _"Shit."_

A siren blared throughout the building, and my heart leapt into my throat.

_"INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"_

I scrambled to my feet, sprinting back out into the conference room, where Toppats were quickly evacuating, except for Sven, who ducked into the side hallway and didn't come back out.

I hurried up the stairs, Ellie keeping pace behind me, "Hey Ellie, what are the chances the intruder is _not_ Charles?"

I came to a halt right outside the mess hall, empty aside from some dirty plastic picnic tables. Right Hand Man was pinning Charles to the ground by the throat, and Charles was trying to scream.

"Stop!" I pulled my gun out, and Ellie copied my move. To hell with the plan, "Get off him!"

Charles looked up at me, his hands shaking as they tried to pry RHM's hands off of his throat.

"I knew it." Right Hand Man tossed Charles aside, who began to cough, "You were never our ally. You just stayed as long as it suited you."

"Step. Away. From the government pilot." I seethed between my teeth, "I won't hesitate!"

"Funny." Right Hand Man smirked at me, "You're 'esitating right now."

He slammed both feet into the floor, and it cracked before it caved in, tossing us down through the bowels of the bunker.

I squeezed the trigger one second too late. I didn't even have time to register my disorientation before I was unconscious.

***


	14. Chapter 14

_"Henry!"_

Ouch. My head was _throbbing._ I barely heard the voice that was calling to me through the fog.

_"Henry, please wake up!"_

The memories came flooding back, and I forced my eyes to crack open. It was dark, but I just saw the outline of Ellie's face, framed by wild red hair.

I shifted closer to her, and my head landed on her chest. I cried out as a wave of vertigo hit me _hard_ and I sucked in breath after breath, trying to calm myself down and resisting the urge to vomit.

Ellie rested her head against mine, "Henry, it's Charles. Charles is..."

I pushed myself up, steadying myself on her shoulders as I gazed through the darkness. Charles was lying on his stomach, panting as blood stained his shirt and jacket, his left shoulder torn open to expose mangled electronics.

Charles was hurt.

_Badly_ hurt.

"Charles!" I ran to his side, nearly tipping over and crashing into the floor, "Charles, please! _Please!"_

His left leg from the knee down had gotten trapped underneath a huge block of solid concrete. He couldn't even drag himself out, and he was shaking and trembling as tears poured from his eyes.

_"I'm sorry."_ he cried, _"I'm so sorry, I was scared. I was scared and I didn't know if you were-!"_

I pushed the block that held Charles captive with my shoulder, but it didn't budge, and it made Charles scream in agony.

"Henry, stop!" Ellie pulled me away, and I collapsed against her shoulder.

And I sobbed.

I couldn't get enough oxygen. I must have been hurt too, but all I could think about was Charles trapped under the collapsed building. Ellie gently brought me to the floor, and I knelt down in front of her, holding onto her for dear life as I fell onto my side against her and sobbed until I was completely out of tears.

I felt hollow and empty inside.

_"Hey, Henry..."_ Charles was close enough that he could reach out and touch my knee, his wheezing voice echoing in the confined space, _"It's going to be okay."_

I felt something hot and wet all over my side, and with a start, I sat up. Ellie had blood on her shirt, emanating from her side just above her hip.

"Ellie..." I touched the area that was bleeding, making her wince, "How...?"

I spotted a blood-covered bullet some distance away, which had happened to land beside _my_ pistol.

"Oh my god. Fuck. Ellie, I'm so sorry."

_"Hey, it's fine."_ she blinked, her eyes shiny with unshed tears, _"It was an accident."_

I had shot her. Goddammit, my aim really was trash, wasn't it? My smile was manic as I laughed, my lungs wheezing, refusing to take in a proper breath of air.

Charles took a shaky inhale, _"H-Henry?"_

"This is all my fault." I slapped my knee. _Ouch,_ "My stupid plan got us all hurt, and now we're going to die in here."

"Don't think like that." Ellie squeezed my torso tight to her body, "It's okay. Everything will-!"

"Don't say it'll be okay!" I tried to yell, but I think it mostly just came out hoarse, "Don't you dare say that everything will be okay, because it won't! How are we supposed to get out of this situation!? Even if the government gets here, they'll have to go through the whole Toppat clan to get to us!"

"That's not true!" Charles tugged on my pant leg, "I didn't see that many Toppats on my way here, but I had a bad feeling, so I told the general that if he didn't hear from me for five minutes to send in reinforcements. He's probably on his way as we speak!"

I fell to the floor in front of him, and I kissed him on the lips. I felt like a drowning man who had finally found the surface. A huge weight being lifted off my heart.

_"Please...don't die..."_ I cried, even as I was still kissing him, _"Don't die...don't die..."_

Charles gasped as he broke away, burying his face in the front of my hoodie, his breaths deepening as they slowly came easier.

"I'll be okay, Henry." he slid down so his head was resting in my lap, "As long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."

I stroked his head slowly as his tears soaked into my jeans.

I found my mind wandering as Ellie leaned on my shoulder, lacing her fingers into mine and giving my hand a gentle squeeze. She was stroking my arm over the inside of my elbow, where I had a nasty scar. The only scar on my body that I truly wish I could get rid of forever.

I lifted my right hand from Charles' head and began to slowly roll up my left sleeve. The scar was small, only about the size of a poppy seed, but it carried so many bad memories.

"Henry?"

Ellie's voice was hoarse now, too. I had a number of scars on this arm, all of which were uglier than the one that bothered me so much, so she was probably confused as to why I suddenly seemed so haunted.

Charles looked up at this point, confusion crossing his features.

I replaced my sleeve, "Guys...did you know I once had an addiction?"

They both looked at me in shock, eyes widening.

"Oh." Ellie took my arm again, leaning on me. Her hair tickled my ear as she nuzzled closer, "To what?"

"Prescription painkillers." I explained, "When I was fifteen, I broke my leg falling out of a tree, and they gave me painkillers for it when I was in the hospital. I don't know what happened, but I was hooked. I kept finding ways to get more, even if I had to steal it or fake injuries. The hospital stopped giving me more, so I went to the black market for something that could give me that high I needed. It wasn't even really a high, I just needed it to feel normal again. The withdrawal could send me spiraling into vomiting spells and violent thoughts of suicide for days or weeks until I could get my next fix. It was the only thing I cared about."

This was the first time I was talking about it since it happened, and admitting it now was both incredibly painful and a huge relief.

"So how did you get out?" Charles looked at me with awe, but also some amount of pity, which made me feel a little sick. I never wanted anyone to look at me that way again.

_"Look at him. He's sick."_ they would say when they thought I was out of earshot, _"He's an inspiration. Who could live through this?" "He's an addict, he's dangerous." "He's so brave for not giving up."_

They had no right to praise me when I was suffering so much, nor pity me for being broken. It was always just an excuse to not help me.

"Well..." I swallowed thickly, "What do you think? I entered treatment for opioid addiction. You see...overtime, my tolerance got higher and higher, and I needed more and more just to feel the same normal as before. One day, I accidentally took way too much, and I was rushed to the hospital for overdose treatment. That was when I knew it had to stop. My doctor _begged_ me to seek rehab, so I did. I was given drugs to dampen the symptoms of withdrawal, but it was still by far the worst agony I've ever been in. I needed constant care from other people because I couldn't even stand without vomiting, and of course, I had to be in a room with nothing dangerous since my intrusive thoughts really wanted me to die, but after two weeks of crippling withdrawal, I began to improve. All of a sudden, I was feeling that same high I always craved, but without the drugs! I've been clean now for six years, and I've never once looked back."

"Wow. Good for you, soldier." Ellie hoarsely laughed, "I never would have guessed you were a junkie."

She was trying to lighten the mood. I could respect that.

"So...this scar on your arm...?"

"Is from two years worth of needles." I sighed, "Thanks for listening, guys. Please, don't tell anyone about this. To this day, my medical record still says that I can't have any opioid painkillers, and I don't need any more reminders of that dark time in my life."

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." Charles promised.

"Mine, too."

We lapsed back into silence. I swore I heard shouting in the distance, but I wasn't sure.

"Did you know I was a miscarriage baby?"

Both Charles and I glanced up at Ellie, and I murmured, _"A what?"_

"That's what my family calls me." she explained, "When my mom was pregnant with me, I showed all the early warning signs of a miscarriage. Miraculously, I lived, but I didn't make it to term. I was born two months premature, and I was in the NICU for most of my infancy. As it turned out, I had underdeveloped lungs and a weak immune system, plus complications ranging from a fluttering heart to a minor brain bleed. I wasn't expected to survive even to my first birthday."

"But you did." Charles weakly smiled, "You survived despite it all."

"Yeah. I survived, but all throughout my childhood, I was weaker than everyone else my age. I needed frequent doctor's visits, different medicines, vitamin and mineral supplements to encourage growth, and physical therapy. I resolved to prove everyone wrong, to prove that I was stronger than they all thought I was, and between all the specialized care and my own sheer determination, I became much healthier. By the time I was seventeen, I was basically caught up to my peers, and I even proved I was fit enough to become a field agent for the federal government. Even to this day, though, I still struggle with the fear that I'm too weak and unhealthy to do anything more challenging than change a lightbulb, even though logically, I know I'm plenty strong enough to survive even Petrov's torture."

She fiddled with my sleeve as she huddled even closer to me, and I brushed her hair back to kiss her forehead, "You're incredible, Ellie."

"Haha. Nah, I just had a rough start. I know it's not nearly as bad as what you went through, Henry, but I never tell anyone this if they don't already know. I assume you guys will keep your mouths shut about this?"

Obviously, I would.

"You can count on us, Ellie." Charles sucked in another breath of air, "Well, jeez, I don't have anything like that. My childhood was really good, and I even got several scholarships from the private school I went to. I was actually somewhat sheltered. I feel kinda bad now."

"Don't." Ellie said immediately, "Just be grateful you had a head start. It wasn't your fault that we went through hell, so be glad that you were lucky."

I saw over Charles' head that he had a burn mark on his jacket, and I realized it was probably from when Right Hand Man jammed his arm into Charles' spine.

"I think..." I began slowly, "I think Charles is in a crisis right now."

Ellie snorted, "Aren't we all?"

"No, really. Remember? Petrov said that Charles occupied Russian airspace multiple times after I was presumed dead. He must have been looking for me for such long hours, and then when he finally gets me back, he dies and gets cyborg parts which mess with his memory and make him vulnerable to brainwashing. Did you see the way Charles looked at Right Hand Man just now? I think he's as scared of him as you were of Petrov."

Charles' mouth formed a squiggly line. He neither confirmed nor denied what I was saying. He simply stayed silent.

Finally, he squeaked out, _"I don't want to kill you, Henry. I don't want you to die."_

Ellie and I shared a glance, and I resumed stroking his head.

"Charles...I know it's hard. Trauma is never easy, no matter who you are. We'll be there for you, okay? That's all we can do for you until it's over."

_"But what if it doesn't end?"_ a spark flew from Charles' exposed wires, and he shivered like he was suffering a menthol burn, _"It hurts so much, Henry. My heart feels like it's being squeezed."_

"It _will_ end." Ellie reached out towards Charles' head, and I moved my hand to let her stroke it, "It _always_ ends, eventually. Just stay strong. You know you can get through this. We believe in you."

Charles looked up at her, and they maintained eye contact for several seconds, as if under some kind of spell. I didn't dare move from where I was for fear of ruining the moment. Was this really happening? Right now?

"You know..." Charles shot her a toothy smile, "I wasn't sure about you at first, but I must say...Henry has good taste in women."

Ellie huffed, "Funny you should specify that Henry has good taste in women, because he clearly has no taste in men."

Charles' whole frame lost its tension as he softly chuckled, probably relieved that Ellie was joking again.

After another intense silence, Ellie lifted Charles' head a bit, "But seriously, you're pretty incredible, Charles. I never thought crashing a helicopter could be a good plan."

I don't think even they knew what they were doing, but regardless, in the next moment, Ellie had stooped just enough to kiss Charles' lips. It didn't last too long, but by the time they pulled away, they were gasping for breath. I covered my mouth to hide my smile.

We were a trio. Somehow, that's what I had been hoping for all along.

_"Get this block out of the way! And don't cause a cave in!"_

The three of us started. General Galeforce.

"G-General!" Charles shouted as loud as he could, "We're here! We need help!"

_"Charlie!? Come on, men! Put your backs into it!"_

I shoved Ellie to the ground as I hovered over the both of them, trying to shield them from falling debris as the rubble cracked, and sunlight spilled into the basement cavern.

"Charlie!" Galeforce climbed in, kneeling by his side, "My god, you're trapped! Soldiers, help me!"

"Ahh! Nooo!" Charles dug his fingernails into the concrete floor, "D-Don't! It hurts-!"

"Just hold your breath, Charlie! Ready!?"

"No no no NO!"

Charles was panicking. I grabbed him, hauling him into my arms as he wailed, and Ellie wrapped her arms around both of us.

"One, two, _three!"_

The soldiers pushed the block, and Charles screamed. My head was vibrating with the sheer volume of it, and my vertigo worsened as my eardrums exploded with sharp pain. He was so winded before, and his voice was totally shot, so I have no idea how he was able to scream like that.

The soldiers dropped the block, and Charles whimpered, burrowing into me as my hoodie was soaked with his tears.

"It's no use, Sir!" Rupert huffed, out of breath, "The block is totally stuck!"

"If we can't get this thing off, then we may have to resort to amputation!"

The general's declaration made Charles stiffen like dried spaghetti.

"Wait." Ellie pointed over Charles' head, "Henry, look!"

I did. It was much easier to see now that there was more light. If I crouched down a little further, I could see that the concrete block wasn't actually crushing his leg, and there was a lot of blood around an area further in.

"Ah!" I handed Charles over to Ellie, and I quickly made my way over to the block.

"No! Henry!" Charles sobbed, "Please! No more!"

"Charles, it's okay." I touched his back, "You can trust me."

"No! _Please!"_

_"Charles."_ I said more sternly, _"Just trust me."_

He didn't respond to that. He simply burrowed into Ellie's shirt, and she held him tightly against her chest.

I held out my hand towards the nearest soldier with a weapon I could use. It happened to be a hammer. The soldier handed it to me, and I hovered over Charles' trapped leg as I positioned it at the base of the block, aiming carefully and giving it a good swing.

The concrete spike that was _really_ holding Charles' leg down cracked in half, and I dropped the hammer to wrap my arms around his torso, pulling him out and rolling him onto his back. One of the medics got to work right away, pulling the spike out and wrapping the wound until it stopped bleeding.

Every time we'd pushed the block to try and get it off his leg, it had been pushing the spike too, and that's why it had caused him so much pain.

"It's okay, Charles." I soothed, "It's okay. It's over. You're okay."

_"H-Henry..."_ he hiccupped, gasping and whimpering.

I cradled his head in my arm, "I'm here, Charles. I'm here."

He weakly nuzzled into me, finally beginning to relax.

Someone else knelt in front of me, and I looked up. The general.

"Good eye, you two." he said, referring to me and Ellie, "You've all done a fine job."

"Huh?" I swallowed, my voice still hoarse, "But the Toppats got away. My plan...it failed."

"I meant about you three taking care of each other." the general placed a hand on my shoulder, "One or all of you could have easily died of shock before help arrived, but you kept a level head because you had each other. Sending you out with Charlie was the best decision I've ever made."

I shared a glance with Ellie, and she looked away, letting her hair fall in front of her face. Someone was standing beside her, fixing up her gunshot wound. Hopefully it had missed all her major organs.

I inhaled, "Sir...there's something I have to tell you..."

"Hm? And what's that?"

I held Charles' head closer, and he looked up at me with a kind of exhaustion I'll never forget.

"I..." I froze up a little as Charles touched my arm, "I...I l-love..."

Galeforce squeezed my shoulder, "I know, son."

I looked at him, seeing his amused grin, "You know?"

"Admittedly, I shoulda known sooner. What can I say? I've been married to my husband for almost forty years now, but I still miss all the signs in my own soldiers! Heheh."

I deflated, relieved, "And it doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it bother me? You and Charlie complete missions with a kind of relentlessness that I've never seen before. As long as you keep going like that, I couldn't care less. In fact, I should thank you, really. Charlie's been a lot happier since you joined us, and he was devastated when he thought you'd been killed."

Charles wrapped his arms around my torso, burying his face in my shoulder. I think he was trying to hide more tears, but he was shaking so much that it didn't really help.

I lifted Charles into my arms, with one arm supporting his legs as I shakily stood, "I'll carry him back to camp."

"What? No, Henry, we haven't checked you for injuries yet!"

"I'm fine, General. Please."

Galeforce was about to argue further, but he must have seen the pleading look in Charles' eyes, because he gave up pretty quickly, "Alright. Let us know if you need help."

I actually did need help to get Charles out of the basement, since the stairs were all blocked, but once we were on the surface, I carried him by myself the whole way back to the helicopters. Ellie stumbled down the path, leaning on me for balance and shaking with the weight of her boots. I offered to carry her too, but she declined.

Once we were in the vehicle, I lay back on the bench, holding Charles in my lap and making sure his injured leg was elevated so as to prevent further bleeding. He still clung to me tightly, as if I might simply turn to dust in his arms at any moment.

Ellie lay her head on my shoulder. She had these long, fluffy eyelashes that I could see even when her bangs fell in front of her face, but they also covered her eyes, so I wasn't sure what she was looking at, or what she might be thinking about. She placed her hand over mine, which was still holding Charles against my chest.

Maybe she was thinking about us.

"Hey, Ellie." I said as the helicopter took off, "I am really sorry my bullet hit you. I'm so sorry."

"Henry, it's okay. You didn't mean to." she kissed my cheek, and I could practically feel the sweat that clung to her brow, "It's okay."

"It's _not_ okay. I hurt you, I _shot_ you! That doesn't change just because it was an accident!"

"But you were aiming for Right Hand Man. It was honestly partly my fault for diving for Charles knowing you have bad aim, and hey, I turned out fine."

"But I could've _killed_ you."

Ellie looked up at me, then she reached up and brushed a tear from my face, "Henry. Look at me. If I say it's okay, then it's okay. Do you understand?"

"Ellie-!"

_"Do you understand?"_

I swallowed the lump in my throat, then I nodded.

"Good." she returned to her nuzzling, "See, Henry? We said we'd be okay."

They had, and yet I still couldn't stop the bad thoughts from consuming my mind.

***


	15. Chapter 15

Lucky for us, Charles' cybernetics allowed him to heal much faster than a normal person would, so mere hours after he was patched up, he was already trying to walk again. Of course, he couldn't, he always ended up falling or grabbing onto things for balance, but his leg could at least hold some amount of weight, so he could get around if he had a crutch.

I pushed him back onto his cot, gently patting his injured leg as a silent reminder, and he huffed in frustration.

"Henry, I'm fine. Fit as a fiddle, in fact! I feel great!"

"I don't care. If you get hurt again, the general'll blame me for it. Just stay put. Get some sleep if you can."

"But I'm not tired!"

 _"But I'm not tired!"_ I mocked, "Whatever. I used to be a professional crook, and you're not a good liar."

The smallest of smiles graced his features, and he let out a good-natured chuckle, "Fine, ya got me. I'm exhausted."

"Thought so." I sat on the edge of the cot, "Can I ask you something, though?"

"Sure. Hit me."

I took his hand, looking right into his eyes, "What is it about me? You know you could have anyone else as a partner rather than a petty thief who tried to rob a bank, escaped from prison, and stole a diamond. Why me, Charles? Why the heck would you fall for _me,_ of all people?"

He glared, sitting up and pointing an accusatory finger at me, "Do you really wanna know the answer to that?"

"Yeah! That's why I asked!"

His glare dropped, but he didn't falter, "Henry, you know you're cooler than you think you are, right?"

I didn't answer.

"If you really wanna know why I chose you...it's because, well, you were the first person my age to have taken me seriously." he squeezed my hand, "I knew who you were at the time, I'm not that clueless, but when I actually had a conversation with you on our first mission together, I didn't see someone who was just a _'petty thief',_ as you put it. In a sense, I always knew you were risking so much just to have a life, not because you were maliciously scheming to steal as much as possible."

"But Charles, that's exactly the problem! Even when I was working with you, I was thinking only of myself! In my mind, I deserved that diamond, and I only helped you to earn my pardon!"

"Ah, but you _didn't_ really, did you?" Charles eyed me playfully, "You didn't just take your pardon and go. No, you stayed with the Toppats and tricked them into coughing up their fortune so we could get victims reimbursed."

I frowned. I guess I had, huh?

"I remember what you said that day, Henry. The first day of the mission." he went on, "You asked for my trust. Here you were, this seasoned burglar no younger than me, and you were treating my trust as something valuable. Something important to you. You acted like you didn't _deserve_ my trust, but you were asking for it anyway. Do you know how little my trust is usually worth? I used to be a pretty low rank, and the other pilots didn't like that the general seemed to have, like, a bias for me, so it took a long time before I had friends in the force, but you, Henry? You respected me from day one. You treated me like an equal without anyone even asking you to. I think it made me realize how badly I've been treated by the other soldiers, especially ones that outrank me."

It took a second for me to find my voice again, "What...are you talking about, Charles? Of course people respect you."

"Yeah, they do _now._ They did when _we_ first met, but remember, I joined the army years ago. I wasn't always a pilot they only brought in for special missions, and I'm especially not used to famous convicts immediately accepting me like an old friend. I really appreciated that, and...well..."

Charles flushed red, rubbing his cheek as he looked away.

"I think...when you sorta confessed to me, seconds before my so-called death, I...I just remember everything clicking into place, like I had finally finished a huge jigsaw puzzle."

He lay back against the pillow, and my mouth fell open in shock as my brain tried to catch up.

Finally, I found myself reaching out so I could take Charles' cheek in my hand. He had huge pink scarring around his cybernetics, where metal met skin. My hand trailed down to it, and Charles sucked in a breath of air.

I retracted my hand, "Sorry."

"Ah, no worries, it...it doesn't hurt." he subconsciously clawed at the scarring around his neck with his organic hand, "It's just still a little sensitive, that's all."

 _Sensitive, huh?_ I looked around to make sure we were still alone, and yes, the medical tent was pretty much empty. It was just the two of us.

"Is...that bad?"

"What?" he seemed taken aback, "N-No. Like I said, i-it doesn't hurt anymore."

He seemed pretty clueless as to what I was talking about, so I decided to show him. I leaned forward to kiss him, and he relaxed against me like always. Then I slowly changed my angle, kissing along his jawline until I'd made it to the huge pink scar.

He arched his back, "Whoa! H-Henry...?"

I moved under his ear, right at the border where his flesh ended and the robotics began.

"Ah!" he gasped, biting his lip, "Mmm... _wow..."_

He'd been surprised at first, but now he was slowly relaxing, his eyelids growing heavy, his arms falling to the cot on either side of him. He tiredly tilted his head to the side to give me a better angle, his breaths coming quick and shallow.

 _Well, he hasn't asked me to stop._ I thought as I continued, planting soft kisses anywhere from his shoulder to his throat, and I varied the pressure I exerted from barely grazing the skin to gentle biting. I began to notice that the more I lingered over metal, the more I could feel tiny bits of static electricity against my lips, as if the power just beneath the surface was building up.

By the time I pulled back, Charles was completely loose, having simply fallen against the cot like he was melting. I could feel the exhaustion radiating off of him in waves, but his face was also completely flushed, all the way to his ears.

"Whoa..." the corners of his mouth twitched up into a small smile, "Remind me to return the favor."

When he fell asleep, hugging his pillow rather than lying on it, I left the tent to see where Ellie had gone off to. I swore she'd been here earlier. The sky was dark by now, and this far away from city lights, all the stars were visible. I was used to it by now, but it was still breathtaking.

When I'd finally found her, I actually took a step back. She was seated, facing away from me, overlooking the cliff over the trees with her legs dangling off the cliffside, and she wore nothing aside from some cargo shorts and a black sports bra. She had bandages wrapped around her midriff, probably from where my bullet had hit.

Trying not to startle her, I made sure my footsteps were clearly audible, but she didn't react, still looking off into the distance. She looked so lost in thought, she'd probably forgotten where she was.

I stopped at her side, "Ellie?"

"AH!" she jumped, throwing out a kick, and her foot connected with my shin.

"OW! Sonofa-!" I hopped away, cradling the leg in both hands.

"Ohmygosh, Henry! I'm so sorry!" Ellie stood up to face me, "Are you okay!?"

"Jesus Christ, Ellie! Didn't you say you used t'be weak or something!?" I let out a long string of expletives, falling backwards as I rubbed the sore spot. It really hurt! How could someone so small hit so hard!?

"Um, yeah, _used_ to be." she knelt down beside me, "I worked really hard to get stronger, remember?"

"Well, you succeeded." I lifted my pant leg, and sure enough, a sizable bruise was forming on my shin, just below the knee.

"Shit. I'm sorry, Henry. I guess I was too deep in thought."

"Hey, it's fine. It's kinda my fault for startling you."

Ellie touched the bruise, making me wince.

"Um...hey, I guess this means we're even now?"

I looked at her goofy smile, and I couldn't help but laugh in response.

She sat beside me, placing her hands on my shoulder and leaning into me.

"Hey Ellie?"

"Hm?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, just..." she shifted so she was leaning into my chest, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

I could tell, obviously, it _wasn't_ nothing, but I knew pressing the issue was probably a bad idea, "Okay."

Her arms snaked around my waist, her head resting on my collarbone, and I held her close, my hands resting on her back and running along the seam of her bra strap. She was covered in goosebumps.

"Ellie, how come you always cling to me like this?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. You make me feel safe. It...reminds me that I'm not alone anymore."

 _Right._ I brushed her hair back from her face as she placed a hand on my chest, basically curling up in my lap as she closed her eyes and listened to my heartbeat.

After a long moment of silence, I pulled back from her to kiss her. Curiosity got the best of me, and I found myself drifting down towards her neck. She curved against me, throwing her head back and holding my head against her, as if afraid I would suddenly pull away. As I kissed her collarbone, she tightly gripped the back of my hoodie in her fists, and when I gave her an experimental bite, she weakly trembled under my grasp.

 _"Mmm..."_ she hummed, "You're real good at this..."

 _"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout."_ I murmured against her skin, giving her one last nip before I pulled away, "Why are you dressed like this, by the way?"

She shrugged, "My clothes had to be washed, and I didn't feel like getting properly dressed again."

"Well, isn't that kinda dangerous? I mean, what if we get attacked and you're forced to run through the underbrush barefoot?"

"I'd have enough time to put my shoes on. You underestimate me, Henry Stickmin."

I chuckled, giving her a squeeze. I never did get anywhere questioning Ellie. I decided we should at least go back inside though, so we headed into the medical tent, where Charles was still sleeping.

"Aw." Ellie sat on the cot, gently touching his arm, "He's just a big teddy bear, huh?"

"Sometimes. You haven't seen his crazy grin when he gets to use the helicopter's mounted weapons."

"Oh, I can imagine it after that stunt with the crash."

I swallowed, "Uh, yeah. That."

Ellie frowned, and her eyes unfocused. Before she could get too deep into thought again _(I really wanted to spare my shins this time),_ I bent over so my head was in her line of sight.

"Hey, Earth to Ellie."

"Huh? Sorry." she shook her head, a little dazed, "Just thinking."

I wasn't sure if she'd be more open to talking about it now, but regardless, I asked.

In response, she lowered her head and rubbed her bare arms, "You don't need to worry about it."

"Seriously, Ellie. If it's about me, you know I won't be offended."

"No, it's not..." she exhaled long and slow, "Okay, okay...listen, I just...I'm questioning why I'm here..."

I blinked. Well, that had come as a surprise, to say the least. I sat on the floor against the fabric wall, gesturing for her to continue.

She let her arms rest in her lap, "I came here just because I was following you. I had nowhere to go after I got out, and I'm glad you were there when I really needed to see another friendly face, but...I can't help but wonder if I should leave."

"Why would you want to leave?"

"Because, Henry..." she glanced at Charles, still fast asleep, "I don't feel like I belong here."

My heart sank. No wonder she'd been so deep in thought. She also didn't seem like she was asking for my permission at all, it was more like she'd already made up her mind and didn't know how to bring it up. I reeled myself in for a minute, trying to accept the possibility that I wouldn't see her again for a long time.

I took a deep breath before I sat up on my knees, taking her hands in mine, "I understand. I only came here for my pardon, and I only stayed for Charles. If you want to leave, there isn't really much I can do to change your mind, but just know that I'd miss you, and so would Charles."

She squeezed her eyes shut, then she lunged for me, her arms around me in a huge hug.

"Thank you, Henry."

I returned the hug, my eyes misting over a bit.

"I think that's exactly what I needed to hear." she kissed my cheek and then my lips, lingering for a second before pulling away, "Okay, I'll stay a little longer. Maybe I can prove to the government that I deserve a pardon, too!"

"Oh, is _that_ why you're staying?" I pulled her into my lap, making her yelp.

"Okay okay, _maaaybe_ you and Charles have something to do with it. Just a little bit."

I leaned back, forcing Ellie to fall over me. Her hands hit the ground on either side of me as she tried to steady herself, my arms still around her waist, holding her close.

She didn't lose her teasing smile, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." I kissed her again, mumbling against her lips, _"Just happy you're here."_

Ellie's eyes fluttered closed, and she relaxed against me. I was sure she would still decide to leave, but I figured I'd make the most of this time while we still had it. Her weight against me was comforting, and despite how scar-riddled she was, Ellie's skin was incredibly soft.

Just as I was considering getting up and carrying Ellie to one of the cots before I fell asleep, the emergency siren in the camp went off.

We leapt to our feet.

 _"Everybody up!"_ Rupert ran past shouting, _"Big Boy is on the loose!"_

Almost immediately on cue, the huge medical tent collapsed, and I threw myself over Charles to protect him from getting crushed.

The metal support beam landed on my shoulder blade, and I heard a sickening _Crack!_

"Henry!" Ellie pushed the tent up, dragging me by the hood.

"Huh?" Charles rolled off the cot, "Are we under attack!? Henry, what happened!?"

I didn't know. My shoulder blade felt weird. There was no pain, but I could feel the bone shifting under the skin and muscle. It made me really nauseous.

"Henry!?" Charles grabbed his crutch, hauling me outside, with Ellie on my other side.

"Charlie! Henry! Ellie! Get out here! We're under attack! Let's go let's go!"

Something was crunching so close to my ear. Were my bones grinding together? I retched, but nothing came up.

"Hurry!" Galeforce took me into his arms, "No man left behind! Let's go!"

I saw a flash of light, and I was knocked over. The numbness faded. The pain set it. I think I might have screamed, but I don't remember.

I must have passed out, because these memories are all a blur.

***


	16. Chapter 16

"I'm glad you're so resilient. I was almost afraid you'd already kicked the bucket!"

My eyes snapped open. I recognized this place; The jail cells in the Toppat airship.

"It's just too bad, innit? Coulda saved us a lotta trouble."

I sat up, cried out in pain, and collapsed back to the ground on my stomach. Reginald and Right Hand Man were outside my cell, laughing to themselves at the state of my misfortune.

I tried to speak, but all that escaped me was a strangled wheeze.

"Aw, now that's cute." Right Hand Man knocked on the door, "Get comfortable, Henry, cuz you're gonna be in there for a long time."

_Ow ow ow ow, my head..._ I tried to drag myself across the floor at least, but my shoulder was sending sharp pain rapidly through my nervous system, making every attempt at movement accomplishing nothing more than weak twitching and shaking.

"Well, you know the drill, Righty." Reginald twirled his moustache between his thumb and forefinger, "Once the redhead and government scum are here, it'll be a proper party!"

My anger flared, and I tried to yell at them, but it was cut off by another wheeze.

"Good luck getting out of there!" Reginald laughed as he left, and Right Hand Man leaned back against the outside wall of my cell. God, I wanted to deck him so badly.

I needed to do something before Charles and Ellie got here, but all my pockets were empty. I didn't even have my earpiece, so I couldn't call Charles. Luckily, I had a secret pocket on the inside of my hoodie that had a single lockpick in it, but of course, I couldn't even lift my head without my shoulder blade slicing through the inside of my body, and I was terrified that if I kept moving, I could get a punctured lung or something. No doubt it was bruised to the nines.

And obviously, even if I wasn't injured at all, I couldn't pick the lock without Right Hand Man noticing, and this was my only lockpick. I couldn't afford to have him take it away from me, and he _would_ take it, if his cybernetics had anything to say.

_This is it._ I thought, _You're really and truly going to lose everything. Everything you've worked so hard for. They're going to keep you alive, and then they're going to kill Charles and Ellie. They're going to take everything away from you._

_And you're going to sit there and watch._

My cheek pressed up against the hard metal floor, I watched my vision blur.

And every tear that fell.

***

Ellie was cold.

She had never been so cold before in her life. She always ran cold, especially in her hands and feet, but this kind of cold chilled her all the way to her bones. It was so familiar that it jolted her awake, nightmares of concrete walls and heavy silence pressing against her on all sides.

When Ellie sat up, the first thing she noticed was that it wasn't silent at all. The birds and bugs in the thick jungle made quite a lot of noise here, even at night, so it immediately calmed her, realizing that she had in fact just been dreaming. She was still shaken, though. It had felt so real.

A low groan came from her left, and she rushed to where she'd heard the sound. It was Charles, just waking up. He had a bump on his head, probably from whoever had knocked him out.

Ellie barely dared to breathe as she shook him, _"Charles, please wake up. We were attacked, we need to find Henry."_

Charles gasped, sitting up and sharply hitting his head against Ellie's, "Ow! Jesus, Ellie! You startled me! Are you alright!?"

Ellie rubbed her forehead, "Y-Yeah. Fine. I mean, okay, actually, I'm not fine at all, but not because of you."

"Okay, that's good." Charles' eyes opened wide, and he made direct eye contact with her, "Wait, no, that's _not_ good. What happened? Where's Henry?"

"I don't know! He was here a second ago!" Ellie tried to stand up, but she was woozy and lost her balance.

"Whoa!" Charles caught her, still seated on the ground, "Hey, it's alright. I'm sure he's here somewhere."

Ellie hugged him, her face in the collar of his jacket. Charles noticed her harsh breathing, and that she was cold as ice, _(probably because she still wasn't properly dressed)_ so he carefully shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Huh? Charles, what...?" she trailed off as he guided her arms into the sleeves and zipped it up to her neck.

He hugged her again, "I understand. I run cold too, so my jackets are plenty warm. You can borrow this one, if you want."

She touched the various patches and pins he had all over the front of the jacket, as well as the few on the sleeves, "Wow. You really are a collector, huh?"

"Haha! Nah, I do love nicknacks like this, but my mom made most of these for me."

One in particular caught her eye, probably because the colors were different than on every other patch. It was a flag with five stripes; Two sky blue, two pink, and one white from the outer edges to the center. The one right next to it had darker blue and pink sections, separated by a purple stripe right down the middle.

Charles blushed, rubbing the back of his head, "I know, it's pretty goofy to collect things like this, but they're a comfort to me, and I'm not required to wear strict uniform."

"I like it." Ellie stood up much more slowly this time, and she only became a _little_ dizzy when the blood rushed out of her head, "It's cute. You're really precious, Charles."

His face turned beet red, "Oh, uh...thank you?"

She helped him stand, and he wobbled on his injured leg, "Don't mention it."

It was strange. Charles was so different from Ellie it was almost laughable, and yet they had both fallen for the same dorky jewel thief.

Speaking of said jewel thief, the camp was far too quiet, and the two of them still had no idea where he could be.

Ellie took a step and winced at the pain that shot up her foot, "Oh shoot, I need my boots. Charles, where'd I...?"

She went searching for them as Charles experimented with his leg. He found that if he limped, primarily relying on his good leg, he could get around with minimal pain, at least compared to a few hours ago, which is presumably how long they were knocked out.

In fact, it had been long enough that the sun was steadily rising, and it became clear the camp was abandoned, aside from one lone soldier with a walkie talkie.

"Whoa! Hey!" the soldier fumbled with the walkie talkie as soon as he spotted them, "General! Charles and Ellie are alive after all!"

_"Great news, soldier! Where are you!?"_

As soon as the general walked over the crest of the hill, Charles made a beeline for him, as gracefully as he could with an injured leg, "General, where's Henry?"

"I'm afraid he's not with us. We saw him being taken away by Right Hand Man about two hours ago."

"What!?"

Ellie grabbed Galeforce by the collar, "And you just let him get away!?"

Rupert tried to pry her off, "Let go of your general!"

"He is _not_ my general! And I am _not_ going to go easy on anyone if I have even the slightest hint that their actions have led to Henry-!"

"Ellie!" Charles grabbed her and yanked her off, "Leave him alone! He has his other soldiers to think about, and Right Hand Man is nothing to sneeze at! Quit acting like a child!"

Ellie was frozen for a second, just silently staring.

"Oh, uh, sorry for yelling, but try _not_ to point fingers at people when _none of them_ are actually responsible? Please?"

_Oh god oh god he's disappointed in me he looks so sad how can someone be this cute that should be illegal is he going to cry please don't aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!_

Ellie cleared her throat, "Umm...s-sorry, Charles...I-I didn't mean.."

"Hey, it's okay, just don't do that again, okay? You scared me." he sighed, "And besides; I'm not really the one you should be apologizing to."

"No need for that, Charlie. I understand." Galeforce replied, "I was actually hoping you'd have a reaction like that, because I was counting on you to be able to bring him back."

"Of course we'll go grab Henry." Ellie stuffed her hands in her pockets, "Should be a piece of cake, right Charles?"

Charles didn't respond. He'd turned completely green.

"Charles?" Ellie touched his cheek, and he snapped out of his daze.

"Wha-oh, yeah of course we'll get 'im back, general. You can count on us."

He didn't sound too enthusiastic about it, though. Plus, his smile was so forced, it would have been comical under different circumstances.

"Charlie?" Galeforce crossed his arms, "If you won't be able to complete this mission, feel free to delegate the job."

"No, I-I'm fine. Really." he said, very obviously not fine, "I can do it. Trust me, general. It'll be a piece of cake, just like Ellie said."

Even as he gestured with his hands, they were visibly shaking, and his eyes had shrunken to pinpricks in his skull. He looked about a hair's width away from completely losing it.

"Charles..." Ellie huffed angrily as she took his wrist and guided him away from the group of soldiers.

"Hey! Ellie!" Charles hopped on his good leg trying to keep up, "What's the big deal!? Stop!"

Ellie brought him some distance away before stopping and holding his arms at his sides, "Charles, tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"Bullshit! Your hands are shaking!"

"No they're not!"

Ellie held his hand up by the wrist, and sure enough, it was shaking like a tuning fork.

Charles snatched his arm back, "It's just...cold. That's all. I need to grab a spare jacket."

"Charles, people who are cold don't look like they're about to see their last meal make a comeback. I'll get you one of your jackets, but you need to talk to me."

Finally, he dropped the forced smile, and it was replaced by vulnerable fear and...were those tears? Oh no.

"Fine." he sniffed, "It's Right Hand Man. I'm terrified of him."

Ellie remembered her broken and feeble body shivering on the concrete floor, trying to get even just the tiniest bit of sleep so she could at least find some escape in her dreams, even if most of the time, they turned into waking nightmares.

"If he's done something to Henry...if he's hurt, or..." Charles shivered, "God, I...I'll never forgive myself..."

"Charles." Ellie took his face in her hands, "If you're really scared, you shouldn't go in. I can get other soldiers that'll help me. You even have the general's blessing. It's not just out of concern for you, either. If you freeze up during the mission, it could compromise the whole operation."

"I know, but I _have_ to do this." Charles rested his forehead on hers, "There's no telling what they've done to him. I heard that crunch when Henry shielded me from the falling tent. He probably has a broken bone, possibly even a broken spine, so torturing him would be all too easy. I need to stop Right Hand Man, I'm the only one who can face him."

As if to demonstrate his point, he shapeshifted his left arm into a sword, with a long thin blade like a lance.

Ellie was about to fire back, but the words died in her throat. Instead, she pulled him into a huge hug.

"Charles...you're such a sweetheart. You're a tooth-rotting sweetheart. You're so sweet, it should be illegal."

With every "sweet" and "sweetheart" she added to her sentences, Charles' face grew redder and redder, "Ah! I don't, um, Ellie, I'm not...really...that cool, or..."

"Just accept the compliment, dumbass."

"Never!" he squirmed in her grasp, rubbing his arms as his blush continued to heat him up, "Who gave you the right-!?"

Ellie took his head, tapping their foreheads together to force eye contact, "Accept the compliment."

He bit his lip, his eyes going half-lidded as he swallowed and looked away, "O-Okay. Thank you."

Ellie smiled, "Aw, don't go all shy on me."

He laughed softly, "Not shy. Just surprised, is all. I've never heard someone demand that I take a compliment."

"If you get a compliment, you say thank you, silly!" Ellie kissed his nose, making him go cross-eyed, "And besides, it's true. Here you are, terrified out of your own skin of Right Hand Man, and yet you want to face him head-on because of what he might've done to Henry."

"Well...that's just the right thing to do, isn't it? I mean, I have these upgrades, I bet I could use them."

"But you're still injured."

His head dropped.

"Listen, we can do this with or without you." Ellie clasped his hands together in hers, "You're sweet because you're thinking of him, even in a situation that could turn sour for you. I can see the way you talk about him. It's the same way Henry always talks about you. He loves you so much, you know."

Charles grinned, "He loves you, too! I've seen it myself! I saw you guys on the map with your earpieces and I saw you stop in the cargo bay and I knew it was really none of my business but there was this thing where..."

Ellie couldn't handle Charles when he got all excited like this. His eyes would sparkle, and he would flap his hands while his mouth moved a mile a minute. It was like the information was just bursting out of him, like he couldn't contain himself he was so excited, and even when he had nothing to say, his smile split the length of his face.

He flashed one of those huge smiles, showing off his crooked teeth.

_Oh god he's so cute._

Ellie abruptly cut him off by kissing his lips, and Charles slowly exhaled as his arms snaked around her waist. It wasn't easy, either, as Charles was quite a bit taller than her, but he had no problem stooping a bit so she didn't have to stand on her tiptoes. Her hands rested on his neck, and as she brushed over the seam between skin and metal, he flinched, his knees nearly buckling.

"Ah, c-careful." Charles broke away, lightly touching the seam, "I'm still sensitive there."

Ellie noticed the scar for the first time. It was easy to see now that he was only wearing a simple white t-shirt, without his jacket, "Oh. So _that's_ where Henry got the idea."

"Huh? What idea?"

Ellie chuckled to herself, "Nevermind that. Are you sure you want to fight Right Hand Man to save Henry?"

Charles took a sharp breath of air, hopping in place to seemingly gather his nerves. Finally, he frowned in determination.

"You'll help me, right?"

"Aw, Charles..." Ellie kissed his cheek, "Yes. I'll be with you every step of the way. You can count on me."

The sun illuminated Charles from behind as it rose over the horizon, and it created a backlight to his red headphones and hazel eyes.

_He could pass for an angel._ was Ellie's last thought before she put her plan into action.

***


	17. Chapter 17

I dragged my fingernail across the metal floor of my cell. Four hours. Four hours I've been here since I've woken up. The longer I was alone, the more hopeful I was that maybe Charles and Ellie were simply not going to show up. I was sad that I would probably never see them again, of course, but if it came between my life or theirs, I would much rather that they survived.

I hit my fist against the floor, and my shoulder flared with pain, though I was slowly getting used to it.

"Getting bored already?"

I growled low under my breath, "Fuck you."

"Bold words for someone with broken bones."

Right Hand Man had barely spoken a single word to me since I was thrown in here. Not that he was more pleasant when he was talking, but at least then the silence wasn't quite so grating.

"What did you do?" talking too much hurt, but I couldn't stop, "Why did Charles react so badly to you back there? Did you hurt him?"

"Pfft. No." RHM scoffed, not looking at me, "I didn't lay a hand on him in violence."

"You can hurt someone without inflicting violence on them, you half-baked tin can!" my voice was scratchy, but I tried to raise it anyway, "You can damage people on a non-physical level! If you so much as look in Charles' general direction, I will turn your skull inside out!"

"Good luck wit' 'at."

I couldn't even see his face from where I was lying. I wanted to annoy him if I couldn't hurt him at least, but what was the point if I couldn't _see_ him get annoyed?

Before I'd even opened my mouth again though, all the lights abruptly cut out, so the only light came from the sun outside the windows.

_"Attention, everyone!"_ Svennson's voice came over the loudspeaker, _"We have an intruder! All units are to report to the cockpit immediately!"_

"Huh. I thought it take 'em longer." Right Hand Man stood right outside the door of my cell, a hand against it as if to stop me from getting out, "Alright. Bring it on."

Not five seconds later, the door to the prison wing burst open, and RHM caught the door as it flew towards him. He tossed it aside as a familiar voice drifted inside.

"Hey there, RHM. Not to be rude or anything, but you look like you could use a bit of reconstructive surgery."

Charles C. Calvin.

Right Hand Man laughed maniacally, "I've been waiting for you."

Charles lunged at him, and they began to fight. RHM had a giant sword as his right arm, which clashed with Charles' left lance arm. Charles parried an attack, getting knocked back and kicked in the stomach. RHM threw a stab, and Charles rolled away to dodge it, then RHM threw a blow down on him from above, which Charles blocked, pushing back against the weapon until he was able to twist around, and RHM's sword embedded itself in the floor. He just barely managed to dodge Charles' next swing.

"Henry!" Ellie's head appeared in the window of my cell, "Are you hurt!? Hold on, I'm getting you out of here!"

_"E-Ellie?" God, I sound pathetic right now._

The lock clicked, and Ellie rushed inside, "Where does it hurt?"

I relaxed slightly as she fussed over me, "Back. Shoulder blade."

Ellie pulled my hoodie and undershirt up, her hands ghosting over my skin, "Oh my god. Don't worry, Henry, I'll help you."

"How?"

Ellie glanced outside to make sure Charles had RHM occupied, then she unravelled a strip of something and stuck it to my back. The pain began to ease, and I took a huge breath of air.

"Better?"

I nodded, and she scooped me up bridal-style, holding my head carefully in the crook of her arm as she snuck past the two fighting cyborgs.

Once she was in the hallway, she activated her earpiece, "Charles, I've made it out with Henry."

He didn't reply, probably because he was busy and he didn't want RHM to catch on. Ellie brought me all the way to the helicopter, which was parked on top of the airship, where a medic was ready with bone paste and sutures.

Ellie held my hand while they peeled the patch off and injected a local anaesthetic, then they made an incision down the bruise, cauterizing as they went, and they carefully put each bone fragment back into place with the paste before sewing me back up. It was tolerable. Though I was in a bit of discomfort, there was no pain.

"Whew." Ellie rested her forehead against my cheek, "That was close."

A searing _Crack!_ reached my eardrums, and everyone looked out the door. Charles' sword arm had broken off in RHM's robotic eye, and it sparked with electricity as they both came back down to land on the airship roof.

Charles looked at the broken nub where the sword used to be, a little shocked that he had actually just done that.

RHM tore the sword from his eye and threw it, "You. _You!"_ he lifted his right arm, gathering a concentrated beam of energy into it, _"I'm gonna delete you!"_

Charles switched his arm back to normal, catching my eye from over RHM's shoulder. His eyes flicked back and forth between his own hand and the beam of energy that was steadily getting bigger and bigger.

I tore Ellie's earpiece from her ear, "Charles! You can do that too! I know you know how!"

My exclamation seemed to restore his confidence, as he snapped out of it and gathered a small orb of light between his hands. He jumped into the air just as RHM threw his energy directly at him, and Charles tossed his orb into it, breaking it apart and rendering it harmless.

It didn't stop there, though. It crashed head-long into RHM and expanded until it consumed half the roof. Before it made it to the helicopter, Charles landed in front of it and absorbed any wayward energy that threatened to roast us alive.

I hobbled to the door of the aircraft, "Charles!"

Charles turned to face me, panting as he gazed at me in horrified realization.

My face fell, "What? What's wrong?"

Charles limped over to where Right Hand Man once stood, now nothing more than charred remains. He hit the remains, and they crumbled to dust.

He looked down as tears streamed down his face.

I was about to call out again, but Charles rushed to my side, hovering slightly above the ground to take pressure off his bad leg, "Henry." he took my hand and pressed it to his chest, _"Henry..."_

I looked down at my outstretched arm, where my fingers were splayed out over his ribcage, slightly to the left of his breastbone. Underneath the fabric and metal, I could feel a steady pressure. It wasn't quite like a heartbeat, but it was close. Startlingly though, the thumping was slow and strong, despite how much Charles seemed to be gasping for air.

His whole upper torso was made of metal.

His eyes glazed over, and he barely managed to squeak, _"I don't have a heart..."_

My eyes widened, "Oh, Charles..."

He hugged me close to him, quietly sobbing into my shoulder. I noticed that he held me oh so gently, barely even grazing my skin, and I realized it was because I was shirtless, and my whole torso was covered in bandages from my impromptu surgery. Even when he was absolutely crushed, he was still careful with me.

I returned the hug, whispering in his ear beneath the headset, "Charles, it's okay. You don't need a heart. You're alive, that's what matters."

_"But who's to say I'm really alive if I don't have a heart? Don't you get it, Henry? My heart stopped the moment that escape pod exploded. I've really been dead ever since."_

"Wait, what?" I pulled back to look at him, "What escape pod?"

"Huh? Oh, I remembered more..." Charles' bottom lip quivered as he wiped his eyes, "I survived because I was in a broken escape pod that was sealed from the inside but didn't launch. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it worked, and yet...Henry, how can I really call myself alive if I don't have a heart?"

"But you do. Listen." I took his right hand and pressed it to his own chest. I know he could feel it. Did he find something off about it?

As if sensing my unanswered question, Charles shook his head, "No, really. It's not the same. I've been ignoring it, but the truth is, it feels completely different from how it did. I'm scared, Henry. What if I'm just...a zombie?"

"You're not." Ellie looked over my shoulder, "Charles, you know we count things as fully alive even if they don't have hearts, yeah? It's not a criteria for life."

"But living humans usually have one." he lamented, "Ellie, _feel it."_

He took her hand to press it to his chest, and after a minute of her listening, she sighed. I know she could feel a difference to how it should be. How it once was.

Finally, she took her arm back, "Charles, zombies don't heal. Zombies don't have blood flow or working organs. You're a cyborg. There's a difference. No matter what though, at the end of the day, you're Charles. That's an absolute fact."

"She's right, Charles." I added, "You're the same brave and loyal helicopter pilot I've always known. Even if your heart doesn't beat the same anymore, it's all still you on the inside. Just because your body is different now, it doesn't make you a zombie."

Charles' hands ghosted over my shoulders, gently touching the bandages. I could tell he was mulling over what we'd said. Finally, he held me more firmly as he pushed his headphones to his shoulders and pressed his ear to my chest. I let my hands settle on his head as he listened. I'm fairly certain he was convinced that my heart was better than his.

"You can have it, if you'd like."

Charles looked up at me, "What?"

"My heart." I watched him as he straightened up, "You know, if you find that comforting...if you ever wanna...like... _listen to it..."_

Well, I made myself sound like an idiot, but Charles got this big smile on his face that I absolutely adore as he chuckled, "Thanks, Henry. I appreciate it. You too, Ellie."

Ellie waved her hand dismissively.

Charles was about to kiss me, but at the last second before I closed my eyes, I saw a flash over his shoulder.

"Charles-!"

He must have caught the urgency in my voice, because he quickly spun around to see what I was looking at, and promptly shielded me from a flying bullet.

The flash I'd seen turned out to be Reginald's gold chain necklace. As soon as he realized his shot had failed, he booked it, and Charles flew after him.

"Charles!"

Ellie ran down the stairs, one hand on her holstered gun in case she'd need to use it. I tried to follow after them, but the medic held me back. I was in no condition to follow. I needed to rest as I healed.

Fine. I would. There was no rule against following the action a different way, though.

Charles caught up to Reginald in the cockpit, who tried to shoot again in one last desperate attempt to survive, but Charles twisted his arm so the bullet embedded itself in the metal wall instead.

Ellie caught up to them soon after this. It turned out that Charles' Y-type move had blown a hole in the engine, and it was slowly falling out of the sky.

"No!" Reginald tried to break out if Charles' grasp, but he held firm, "What are you g-going to do?"

"Don't move!" Ellie pointed her gun at him, "Put your hands where I can see them!"

He did, and Charles took his gun away, flipping the safety on and unloading all the bullets before he tossed it aside.

"You...you government scum are all the same!" Reginald spat in disgust, "You've taken my ship, my crew, my riches, and now you've even taken my best friend..."

"Huh." Ellie deadpanned, not impressed, "I didn't even know you two liked each other."

"Of course we did! Righty and I have been best friends since we were six! He was the only one I could ever count on not to betray me, and now he's gone forever!"

Charles' hands formed tight fists at his sides, "Oh. You were just a poor misunderstood unfortunate soul that happened to face misfortune wherever you go. Cities crumble to dust, earthquakes swallow you up into the ground, and _life is just so unfair!"_

Whoa. Charles, is that you? I didn't even recognize him through the camera screen. All traces of kindness and excitability were gone, replaced by cruel amusement and mockery.

Reginald didn't reply. He simply glared daggers at him.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, "Are you going to kill me?"

The dashboard was beeping out a warning as the ship descended. In a stroke of inspiration, Charles turned his hand into a massive staple, which he hooked around Reginald's torso and let fly so he was literally stapled to the wall.

"Erg!" Reginald struggled with it before letting his arms fall, "So that's it, then? You're just going to leave me here to go down with the ship?"

Charles' hand returned to normal, "Yep. _'Righty'_ didn't get a view of us destroying his new rocket, so I figured I should allow you that much, at least. C'mon, Ellie. Let's get out of here."

As they turned to leave though, a bullet landed in Charles' spine, and he buckled over the pilot's seat.

"Charles!" Ellie shot Reginald in the head before he could shoot her next, and he slumped over, dead.

_"Agh...Ellie..."_ Charles was trying to breathe, but his chest wasn't expanding.

"Come on, Charles! You can get us out of here! Let's go!"

His whole left arm shut down as his robotics went offline. His thoughts became slow and sluggish. His eyelids tried to close, but he forced them open.

"Charles!"

"Ellie, d-don't worry about me." Charles weakly took her hand, "Just get yourself outta here, okay?"

"No! I can't!" Ellie tried to lift him into her arms, but he was too heavy, "No! _No! Of all the times to be weak..."_

"Ellie, please."

"No man left behind, Charles!"

"Stop. Let me go." Charles pushed her away, "Sometimes, you have to settle for less men left behind, and if you stay here, you'll die with me."

"I won't accept it, Charles!" Ellie grabbed his shirt collar, "If you're dying here, then so am I!"

"Please, Ellie. Consider it my dying wish." Charles took her hands, trying to shout but not having the strength, "Go. Live for me."

Ellie began to sob as she pressed a sloppy kiss to his lips, mumbling between kisses, _"Okay. Okay, I'll go. I'll bail as soon as we see the ground. I'll live."_

As all of this was going down, I was attempting to get dressed and pack a belt with weapons, even over the medic's protests.

_"Henry!? What on Earth are you doing!?"_ Galeforce's voice crackled through the helicopter's radio, _"Turn on the autopilot and get out of there!"_

I ignored him until I realized I couldn't carry a parachute due to my injury. As soon as I picked it up, my shoulder screamed in pain and I dropped it with a hiss, cursing loudly as the medic forced my shoulder back into place.

"Henry!" another helicopter hovered nearby and Galeforce ran to me, "Let's go! Come on!"

"I can't leave him, General!"

"You can and you will! If you try to save him now, you'll get yourself killed!"

Galeforce's tears soaked into his moustache. Well, at least I can tick, _"Make an old man cry"_ off my bucket list, goddammit.

"General, PLEASE!" I shook him lightly, "I can't let him die! Not again! I've already failed him once, don't make me abandon him now!"

It didn't really matter. I was going to go after him no matter what. I've acted outside the general's orders before, after all. But if I had his blessing, that would at least be one thing off my conscience.

"You're not taking no for an answer, are you, son?"

I shook my head.

I let him go as he held his hand up, "Very well, but I'm going with you, and so is Private Price."

I could live with that, "Thank you, sir. Let's go!"

I burst into the cockpit just as the mountain came into view over the broken remains of the windshield. Ellie's gaze snapped up to me, still covered in tears.

"Let's go, soldiers!" Galeforce forced Charles' arms through the parachute, snapping it into place and dragging him to the window.

"Ellie, come on." I gave her a parachute of her own, "We're going back up to the helicopter. I'm counting on you to watch over Charles until help can arrive wherever you land. Do you understand?"

She shouldered the parachute with impressive speed before smashing our mouths together, and I held her firmly against my body, feeling her shaking against me as I tasted her tears.

_"It's okay."_ I murmured against her lips, _"It's okay. Shhh."_

When it was time to drop, Galeforce unravelled Charles' parachute and threw it out of the side of the ship. When they were certain nothing would get caught, they threw Charles off into the air and Ellie jumped after him.

"Okay, let's go!"

Galeforce forced everyone up the stairs back to the helicopters, but he tripped on the way up.

"Sir!?"

He coughed, "I'm fine! Keep going!"

I steeled myself, "No!" I ran back to him.

"Henry, what are you doing!?"

I wrapped his arm around my shoulders to hoist him up, even as his breaths came shallow and harsh, "I'm not leaving you here, sir!"

The spare Toppat rocket came into view as I dragged the general across the roof.

Rupert shouted after me, "Let's go! Let's go! Come on! Move it!"

I hoisted the general into the helicopter and went to climb in myself-!

_CRASH!_

I lost my balance, sliding across the slanting roof until I fell off the side.

"NO! _HENRYYYYY!"_

***


	18. Chapter 18

I've been in this state before.

The first time, it was when my mom died. I was 12 years old. The robber at the gas station tried to shoot me, and she jumped in front of me to save me.

The second time, it was when I overdosed at age 17. It was when I realized that there was no way out other than to live with the withdrawal until my body could get used to the new normal. I cried for so long, my stomach heaving over and over again even as nothing came up. No pain can ever compare to that.

The third was when Reginald betrayed me. The fourth was Charles' death in the Toppat space station.

I've faced death so many times that it really shouldn't be this shocking anymore, and yet it always came with those same feelings of numbness, inadequacy, grief, fear, and most of all, the unbearable self-loathing. What could I have done differently to make sure this didn't happen?

I couldn't help but wonder...is this the last time?

Will I never wake up again?

My question was answered as I peeled my eyelids open, an IV in my hand as a heart monitor filled my ears with beeping. I groaned. I wasn't in pain, but that didn't mean I was comfortable.

_"Henry!"_ Ellie and Charles exclaimed in unison, kissing both of my cheeks at the same time, and making me swoon in my half-asleep state.

"He's awake!" Galeforce called outside, "Everyone, he's awake!"

Ellie took my hand and gave it a squeeze, "Henry, you big dumb idiot! I love you! Don't scare me like that! I saw you fall, and there was nothing I could do!"

"You saved my life!" Charles hugged me gently, "I thought I was a goner! You were there, and I knew I'd be okay! Don't do that again, though! No more near-death experiences, okay? Please?"

I realized why I wasn't in pain. Why I felt so drugged. I eyed the IV in my hand, and I sat bolt-upright as my other hand hovered over the plastic tube, afraid of tearing it out but afraid of leaving it in.

I dry-heaved, gagging and retching into my lap, though there was nothing in me to throw up.

"H-Henry? What..." Charles realized before Ellie did, "Oh! Henry, this isn't an opioid painkiller."

I stopped retching, the nausea replaced by a fluttering hope, "It's not?"

"No, of course not." Ellie caught on quickly, "It's mostly just water and antibiotics and stuff. Your numbness is due to the stuff they gave you during surgery. It's not nearly as addictive as opioids."

I felt my heart seize up, "Promise?"

"Of course." Charles kissed my forehead, "You know we have your medical records, right? You know our medic wouldn't do that to you."

I deflated, falling back against the pillow, "Thank god. Holy shit, I could cry. I thought...oh my god, thank god..."

They had just seen a side of me that hadn't resurfaced in a long time, except in my nightmares. Nightmares of the agonizing withdrawal. Four weeks in the hospital. Not a moment to myself except the few times I was able to actually walk to the bathroom without passing out. I had to be heavily sedated just to get a few restless hours of sleep every few days. I was overwhelmed by relief that that version of me was indeed in the past forever, buried beneath my promise to stay clean, even if there was a strong temptation. Even if I had nothing else. I was alone for a long time after my family gave up on me for being a problem child, and I still _never_ went back.

"Hey, hey." Charles wrapped me up in his arms, sitting beside me on the bed so I could lean on his chest, "I'm here now. It's okay."

Ellie hugged both of us, resting her head on my shoulder, "Sorry for the scare, Hen. We should have said something sooner, huh?"

_"No, guys, it's okay."_ I said between choked sobs, _"Really, I'm happy. I've never been happier to be alive."_

It was true. These were tears of happiness, not pain. I couldn't remember the last time I was so happy, not even when I had Charles back after he died.

"Wait." I pulled back from Charles, leaning into Ellie, who held me up to stop me from falling, "What became of the Toppats?"

"Gone." Galeforce replied, "Their leaders are dead, as you know. Many of them died in the explosion, and the rest surrendered. A few of them escaped, but they were in small groups, so I think it's safe to say they won't be giving us trouble any longer."

"And we have better news." Vinschpinsilstien was there too, her glasses cracked on one side, "The Russian government got your letter, but instead of demanding your head, they looked into how Dmitri Petrov had been running his prison. The result? It broke every law of fair prison holding, and every human rights abuse possible. They issued a formal apology for not insisting on search sooner, and many previously pardoned criminals were set free, while many others entered treatment for PTSD. The rest of inmates found themselves at better prisons."

"That's right, and it's all thanks to you, Henry." Galeforce smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling, "Indeed, ever since you've entered this force, you've been a shining example of courage, comradery, and unwavering loyalty in your teammates. I'm promoting all three of you to Special Covert Ops agents."

"Wha-?" Charles scooted closer to me, "But Henry and Ellie aren't even enlisted!"

"Well, they are now, unless they don't want it. You'll be running a lot more missions together with Charlie."

Charles practically bounced in his seat, and Ellie met my eye, the biggest smile I've ever seen on her. I whispered in her ear, _"Do you feel like you belong here now?"_ and she responded by kissing my cheek again.

Galeforce procured a letter with a blue wax seal, "Oh, Ellie, before you accept _my_ offer, you'd better take a look at this."

Ellie took the letter, excitedly breaking the wax seal and unfolding the paper inside to read it.

"Hey! They're giving me my old job back! And they're even doubling my pay!"

"Congratulations, Ellie!" Charles flapped his hands, "Wow! Two offers in one day!"

Ellie glanced from the paper to the other two, and her smile slowly fell.

"It's your choice, Ellie." Galeforce said to her, "But just know that my team would be honored to have you."

She looked around the room at the various agents that had gathered in the medical tent, including the three bounty hunters John, Gordon, and Amelia, who all had various minor cybernetics installed.

Ellie folded up the letter, "I'm gonna stay with you guys. My old job wasn't that cool anyway, and what could be better than going on ass-kicking missions with my two favorite boys?"

"Ah!" Charles gave her a crushing hug, "I'm so happy! We're gonna be Special Covert Ops together!"

Galeforce tilted his head to see between them at me, "Henry, you've been awfully quiet this whole time."

I snapped my head up upon hearing my name, "Oh, uh..."

Ellie wrapped an arm around me, "Henry?"

I thought about it for awhile before I smiled softly, "I respectfully decline."

_"What?"_ was uttered by pretty much everyone.

"You see, I've never gotten to live as a normal civilian before." I explained, "The last time I had anything close to a normal life, it was right before my mom died. Custody went back and forth, I was both kicked out and ran away, and then I tried to rob a bank, escaped from prison, and even stole a diamond worth close to a hundred million dollars. I just...I'm done. Maybe I'll enlist one day, but I just want some semblance of basic safety for awhile. I'm happy to help with special missions, though."

"I see. Well, regardless, you're always welcome on my team."

"I know. Thank you, General."

My two partners crushed me between them, and I was astounded that I felt so safe.

I drifted off with a smile on my face.

_Thank you for staying._

***

I blinked up at the ceiling. I didn't recognize it at first, but then the memories slowly came back. I was lying in the middle of what appeared to be an ultra-wide bed, but was actually three twin-size beds with custom sheets over them. I usually slept in the middle because Charles often got up to pee in the middle of the night while Ellie was prone to sleepwalking, and it was ideal to avoid too much climbing over each other. It looked like I was the last one up, too. Charles and Ellie were nowhere to be seen.

I sat up and got dressed, chuckling to myself as I thought about the incident last night. Ellie had been sleepwalking when I got up in the night to get a drink of water, and I found her facing the fridge, slumped over and completely still. I asked what she was doing up, and she turned to me and said;

_"Henry? You watered the flowers today, right?"_

We don't have flowers or a garden or even a yard, so I just confusedly replied, "Yeees...?"

She nodded, said, _"Good. Good."_ and then laid down and went back to sleep on the floor. By then of course, I'd figured out that she was sleepwalking, and I just about died laughing in the kitchen at 3 am, trying not to be too loud so I wouldn't wake anyone up.

When I emerged in the kitchen, I smelled something that could pass for eggs, and Ellie was standing at the stove, still in her button up pajamas and fuzzy fleece socks.

I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, "Morning, Ells."

She laughed softly, tilting her head towards me to give me a brief kiss, "Hey, look who's finally out of bed."

"I'm allowed to sleep in if I want. I'm the military spouse."

"Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that."

I looked over her shoulder to what she was cooking. Or, rather, charring, "Uh, Ellie? D'you think that's burning?"

"Well, I don't want it to be _undercooked,_ do I?"

All of a sudden, the egg caught on fire, and the smoke alarm blared throughout the apartment.

I yanked Ellie aside and grabbed the fire extinguisher, spraying the stove until all the fire was smothered. I then switched the stove off and sighed.

"Er..." Ellie shrugged, "Sorry!?"

I put the fire extinguisher away, crossing my arms and tapping my foot.

"Guys!" Charles burst in through the front door, shouting over the noise, "Are you okay!? Is there a fire!?"

He seemed to process that nobody was hurt, so he let out a big sigh.

"Sorry, Charles!" Ellie shuffled her feet, "I guess...I should leave the cooking to you from now on, huh!?"

"Uh, yeah maybe!? You know I could teach you, right!?"

Ellie shook her head, _"Oh boy..."_

We opened the windows in the apartment to vent the smoke until the alarm stopped blaring, and I flicked on the ceiling fan, coughing into my sleeve.

"Here, let's just order takeout and watch a movie." Charles took out his cellphone, "My treat."

Ellie and I set up the pillow fort around the TV while Charles ordered the food, and we gathered in the fort as we started the process of figuring out which movie to watch. My favorite movie is Home Alone, Ellie's is Die Hard, and Charles' is Air Bud, and we always, _without fail,_ end up bickering about which one to watch. I actually relented half the time because throughout the entirety of our relationship, this was our worst argument, and sometimes, it just wasn't worth it.

"Guys, hold on." I interrupted the other two, "Why don't we just watch something new?"

They glanced at the movies we held in each other's hands. I placed Home Alone back in its spot on the shelf.

"Think about it. We have Netflix, and we've already seen these three movies a thousand times."

"He does have a point." Charles scratched his chin as he shelved Air Bud, "Alright, but what if it takes forever for us to pick one?"

"It takes us forever anyway." Ellie threw the Die Hard case between the three of us, "Fine. Let's just hurry. We'll pick randomly if we can't settle."

And settle we did. From noon to 5 pm, we cycled through a bunch of different movies that none of us had seen before. The last time I'd watched a movie before we moved in together was maybe the day before I broke my leg and went to the hospital. Movies had no meaning once I was there long enough and they tried to wean me off the painkiller. I was glad to finally be out of the action. For once, I was nothing more than a passive observer.

The three of us lay back in the pillows, with me in the middle. Ellie was laying over me with her head on my chest, her arms around my waist, and Charles had his arm around both of us, holding my hand as it rested on his chest. I could feel his unusual heartbeat through it, the thumping steady and slow.

The credits rolled on the movie, and I reached for the remote to exit out, "Charles, what did the doctor say about your heart?"

"Hm? Oh, she said it was still my normal human heart, but it needed some artificial help to start beating again. I know you said it doesn't really matter, but..."

"I know. Just curious." I sat up and stretched, Ellie still sleepily clinging to me as I did so.

"Oh, speaking of my upgrades..." Charles shifted so he could place his head on my shoulder, "I thought I told you to remind me to return the favor...?"

I thought about that, laying back down, "Return the favor...?" once I remembered, I felt my face flush red, "Oh! N-No, you really don't have to!"

"I know." Charles kissed my cheek, speaking softly into my ear, _"But do you want me to?"_

The back of my neck prickled, shooting pins and needles from my spine all the way down to my fingertips. It felt good. I swallowed as Charles nuzzled me affectionately, and I could see his smile in my peripheral vision.

I realized I'd been holding my breath, so I let it go, wordlessly nodding.

Charles chuckled as he met my lips, and I relaxed, letting him kiss me as his hand came up to stroke my jawline. I shivered as his mouth moved along my cheek and then the underside of my jaw, landing on my neck as his lips closed around my skin. Ellie saw this and smiled as she kissed my lips while Charles moved to just below my ear. She kissed my nose and then my cheek before moving down my jaw and gently biting on my neck.

_"Ah!"_ I threw my head back. I was sure they could feel my heart pounding, but I didn't care. Charles was being so gentle, breathing over me and smiling against my skin, while Ellie basically sank her teeth into my neck wherever she could reach, sometimes even moving my shirt collar aside to access more skin. It was electrifying, and receiving this kind of attention from both of them at the same time was almost more than I could handle!

I trembled as they crushed me between them like an affection-filled ice cream sandwich, and seeing me reacting well to Ellie, Charles decided to be a little bolder, running his tongue over a particularly sensitive area of skin-!

_"Oh!"_ I took a huge breath of air, "Whoa... _whoa..."_

Ellie pinned me down with her arm, her mouth leaving my throat enough to smile at me, "You want us to stop?"

"No." my breath hitched as Charles bit me. It wasn't hard enough to hurt of course, but it _was_ hard enough to make me dizzy.

Charles laughed softly, his breath on my neck, "We'll stop if you want us to."

"Don't!" I crossed my arms over my chest, "Quit teasing me! You guys are so annoying!"

Ellie kissed my mouth again, gently biting my lower lip. That shut me up for awhile.

By the time they pulled away, I was drowsy, as if I'd been sedated, but really I was just pumped up on, _"I have two wonderful partners who love me so much"_ juice. They leaned over me to exchange a sleepy kiss with each other before settling their heads in the crook of my neck to sleep.

Charles must've had a long day, because he was out like a light. Ellie ran her fingers up and down my stomach absentmindedly for awhile, but eventually she drifted off, too. Not me. I slept in til noon, so of course I wasn't tired at 5 pm. I had no desire to move, though. Ellie and Charles were like cats. Once they fall asleep on you, you don't have the heart to wake them up even if you need to in order to get up.

This time though, I didn't want to get up. I was comfortable, and I could reach my phone from here if I wanted it. Right now, all I wanted was to stay right here with my favorite ex-convict and military pilot, curled up in my arms as they snoozed on.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was then.

And I begged the universe to let me keep this for as long as possible.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on tumblr! marshemillow.tumblr.com


End file.
